Mumbai: Indian equities soared Tuesday towards close of trade with a key index rising over 475 points from its last closing figure to breach the 12,000-point mark at day-end. Banking and IT stocks led the rally.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 11,629.97 points, rose 475.04 points or 4.07 percent from Monday's close to end trade at 12,158.03 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 3.56 percent to close at 3,681.1 points.

Broader market indices also ended in the positive terrain, with the BSE midcap index moving up 0.94 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 1.32 percent.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 12,194.63 points and a low of 11,629.97 points.

"A lot of short positions were built up during the past few days and one possible explanation is that people today covered quite a few of these. Still, this rally came quite unexpected," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head at SMC Capitals.

While all the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE saw upward movement, the indices for IT, telecom and banking gained the most.

"Banking and IT stocks were picked up because of attractive valuations," added Thunuguntla.

Among the top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC, up 7.66 percent at Rs.1,841.35; Wipro, up 7.4 percent at Rs.375.25; ICICI Bank, up 6.72 percent at Rs.558.65; and Bharti Airtel, up 6.23 percent at Rs.794.20.

The only loser on the 30-composite Sensex was Hindustan Unilever, down 0.44 percent at Rs.225.05.

The market breadth was positive, with 1,410 scrips advancing, 1,101 declining and 75 remaining unchanged.

Altogether, 41.51 crore shares worth Rs.4,380.1 crore were traded.

Data with the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), showed foreign funds were net buyers Monday lapping up scrips worth $37.1 million.

The NSE's Volatility Index - a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the short term - stood at 61.03 points as of Monday. Anything above 35 points indicates risk.

Asian markets closed mixed, with the Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, ending trade marginally higher at 17,151.64 points, an increase of 0.38 percent or 65.69 points.

The Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, shed 157.37 points to shut shop at 9,298.61 points.

European markets were trading marginally lower with the FTSE in Britain ruling 22.19 points down to 4,413.31 points and its French peer CAC 40 trading 15.08 points lower at 3,233.59 points.