Mumbai, Dec. 27: Reliance, the darling of investors pining for a slice of the demerger stock pie, today starred in a riveting market show-stopper that saw the sensex win back the gains it had surrendered on Monday.

On Dalal Street, where the 30-share index staged a 197-point rally to finish at 9283.16, the mood was perked by reports that FIIs remain as committed to India as they have been in the last 12 months with their $10-billion stock play.

The buying binge behind the biggest intra-day leap since October 31 ? when the sensex jumped 206.68 points ? was driven by institutional investors and local operators. Concerns about problems in adjustments of Reliance shares in the futures and options segment also receded.

The benchmark index opened at 9071.25 and hit an intra-day peak of 9297.07 before ending at 9283.16 against Monday’s close of 9085.89, a gain of 2.17 per cent.

Brokers blamed the last two days of losses ? over 286 points ? to selling by some Japanese funds. What turned the tide was big purchases by FIIs during the day.

Investors interest was whetted by reports that there would be a rush of reforms during 2006 and that the first round could come in the first quarter of the new year.

Other than RIL, Infosys, ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, Bharti Tele, Lever, Tata Steel, L&T and Satyam scored big gains.