Mumbai, May 2: Bank stocks were on a roll today leading the sensex to an all-time closing high.

The 30-share sensex ended the day with a gain of 176.22 points or 1.4 per cent at 12218.78. It also touched a lifetime intra-day high of 12288.51.

The nifty rose 47.85 points or 1.3 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 3,605.45.

Encouraging fourth-quarter numbers, coupled with strong auto sales in April, triggered renewed buying in blue-chips as firm Asian markets pepped up sentiments.

The indices, however, lost some ground during the final hours of trade as investors resorted to profit booking at higher levels.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4,897 crore compared with Friday's Rs 4,823 crore. Advances outnumbered declines by a ratio of 1.8:1.

Bank stocks benefited from the strong lending growth in a booming economy. The BSE bankex closed at 5459.79, up 4.08 per cent. Shares of Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank and PNB surged.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories jumped 17 per cent to Rs 1,681 after the US authority allowed the company to market the generic version of Merck's cholesterol drug. Ranbaxy, which also benefits from the ruling, jumped 10 per cent to Rs 521.90, amid a high volume of 13.6 lakh shares on BSE.

The sensex has risen 383.76 points or 3.2 per cent in the past three trading sessions to 12218.78 from 11835.02 on April 27.

Asian stocks rose today, led by buoyant Japanese stocks that climbed ahead of a long holiday period. Taiwan stocks rose to a fresh 5-1/2-year, and Singapore's Straits Times share index set an all-time high led by gains in DBS Group.