The Sensex ended 222 points or 0.55 per cent higher at 40,470 and the Nifty 50 index rose 49 points or 0.41 per cent to shut shop at 11,966.

Infosys was among top gainers in the Sensex. The stock surged as much as 3.69 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 721.50 after the company said that it "strongly condemns the mischievous insinuations" made by anonymous sources against the co-founders and former colleagues.

"These speculations are appalling and seem to be aimed at tarnishing the image of some of the most accomplished and respected individuals," said Nandan Nilekani, chairman, Infosys, in the statement.

Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC and Sun Pharma were also among the gainers in the 30-member Sensex index, rising between 1.3-2.3 per cent each.

On the flipside, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Maruti Suzuki were among the laggards.

Surge in Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC and HDFC Bank collectively contributed over 200 points towards gain in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Twelve of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Realty index's 2.6 per cent gain. S&P BSE Bankex, Capital Goods, Metal and Finance sector gauges also rose between 0.9-1.1 per cent each.

On the other hand, S&P BSE Consumer Durables index was top loser, down over 5 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares ended mixed. The S&P BSE MidCap Index settled 0.15 per cent higher while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed 0.36 per cent lower.