According to market observers, optimism over the quarterly earnings for the April-June period starting later in the day also strengthened investor sentiments.

Healthy buying activity was witnessed in the auto, metal and banking stocks, they said.

At 3.30 p.m., the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed at 10,947.25 points -- higher by 94.35 points or 0.87 per cent -- from its previous close of 10,852.90 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which had opened at 36,068.27 points, closed at 36,239.62 points (3.30 p.m.) - up by 304.90 points or 0.85 per cent -- from its previous session's close of 35,934.72 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 36,274.33 points and a low of 36,019.63 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,677 advances and 957 declines.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries, Wipro, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto and Coal India whereas IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were the losers.

On the NSE, Gail, Hindalco Industries and Reliance Industries were the highest gainers while Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil Corp and Indiabulls Housing Finance lost the most.