The 30-share index Sensex climbed up during the noon trade after registering a gain of 76 points.

The hefty buying activity was witnessed across FMCG, banking and automobile stocks.

The BSE Sensex traded in the range-bound manner during the opening session.

The Sensex, which belled the day at 18,194.78, surged 76.33 points (0.42%) to trade at 18,255.97 as against its last closure at 18,179.64 on Wednesday.

In the meantime, the broad-based Nifty gained 0.41% to trade at 5,485 during the afternoon session.

The BSE midcap index grew by 0.58% and the BSE smallcap index climbed 0.72% at the same time.

The overall breadth of the stock market remained optimistic with 1,572 progressions as compared to 1,205 declinations.

However, 115 stocks remained unchanged.

Other major Asian stock exchanges also remained up following yesterday's profits at Wall Street.

The Japanese stock index Nikkei stood at 8,906.48, up 0.69%.

The Chinese Shanghai Composite index gained 0.05% to trade at 2,597.93.

The Hong Kong's Hang Seng remained weak, and its lost 0.07% to stand at 20,619.79.