Sensex up 195 points at 14,490.77

Buying activity also picked up as Friday being the first session of new settlements in the derivatives segment.

The 30-share index, which had gained nearly 710 points in the past two sessions, gathered another 194.76 points at 14,490.77 -- a level last seen in September 2008.

All the sectoral indices are trading in the positive zone with gains up to 2.77 percent.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 58.30 points to 4,395.40 points.

Stock brokers said buying activity continued to pick up on prospects of economic recovery after the Congress-led UPA government returned to power.

Among major gainers are, Infosys Technologies up 0.84 per cent at Rs 1,589, ICICI Bank by 1.70 per cent to Rs 741.90, M&M by 2.40 per cent at Rs 654.10, NTPC by 1.08 per cent at Rs 209.75, RCom by 3.48 per cent to Rs 307.70, RIL by 0.45 per cent to Rs 2,229.85, Tata Power by 2.06 per cent at Rs 1,122.10 and Tata Motors by 2.21 per cent at Rs 340.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.77 per cent at 18,022.59 points in early trade on Friday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had closed 1.25 per cent higher at 8403.80 on Thursday.