Mumbai, April 17 -- The domestic equity benchmarks ended on a firm footing today, marking their fourth straight session of gains. After a tepid start amid mixed global cues, the indices traded rangebound in the early hours. But come mid-session, the bulls took charge.

The Nifty, which opened at 23,401.85, climbed steadily to end the day at 23,851.65, up 414.45 points (1.77%). Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex soared 1,508.91 points (1.96%) to settle at 78,553.20.

ICICI Bank (up 3.68%), Bharti Airtel (up 3.38%), Reliance Industries (up 2.9%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.53%) boosted the indices.

Today's volatility was largely fueled by the weekly expiry of Nifty50 options, but investor sentiment remained upbeat, bolstered by positive developments on...