The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange shot up a mammoth 520 points–its biggest single-day gain in 22 months–to close above the 19,000-mark, at 19,396, today.

The market was lifted by a strong rally in energy stocks, after the government approved a near doubling of natural gas prices, and as the rupee staged a smart recovery. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange spurted 160 points, or 2.8 percent, to 5,842.

Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore gained between 1 percent and 3.5 percent.