Rally in financials, F&O expiry: Here's why Sensex rallied 996 points today

After days of range-bound and lackluster sessions, the bulls were finally in the driver's seat on Wednesday with both the benchmark indices advancing over 3 per cent.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 996 points or 3.25 per cent to 31,605.22 while NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 9,315, up 286 points or 3 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, continued to decline and it ended at 31.16, down nearly a per cent.

Here's a look at the key factors that lifted the equity market on Wednesday -

Buying in financial counters ahead of F&O expiry: Banking and financial counters witnessed huge