At close,the Sensex was up 88.91 points or 0.12 percent at 74,005.94, and the Nifty was up 40.70 points or 0.18 percent at 22,506.80. About 2359 shares advanced, 998 shares declined, and 130 shares unchanged.

All sectors ended the special trading session in the green, with capital goods, PSUs, industrials and media leading from the up. Metals, PSU banks, pharma and realty also posted decent gains.

Among Nifty 50 stocks, Nestle India was the biggest gainer, up over 2 percent, followed by Power Grid and Tata Motors. On the flipside, JSW Steel was the biggest loser, down around 2 percent.

Sensex and Nifty were marginally up from the previous day's close in the second leg of the special trading session of May 18, with financial services and FMCG stocks leading the gains. All 13 major sectoral indices closed in green.

FMCG giant Nestle India's shares ended 2.4 percent higher after a majority of the shareholders voted against an increase in royalty payout to Swiss parent Nestle S.A.

Compared to the close on May 17, Sensex was up 0.1 percent or 104 points at 74,021 and and Nifty 50 was up 0.2 percent or 35 points at 22,501. In the broader market, both BSE Midcap was up 0.5 percent and BSE Smallcap gained 0.8 percent.

A slippage below 22,400 could call for 22,350-22,227 levels. However, a collapse beyond these levels is less likely, James added.

Technical indicators, foreign investors’ buying, and US market strength show that Indian benchmark indices may find support for a further rise in the near term.

In the domestic market, there is an extreme eagerness to know the outcome of the general elections, and this emanates from the need to know the possibility of continuity of policies, said Jaykrishna Gandhi, Head - Business Development, Institutional Equities, Emkay Global Financial Services. "Certainty regarding this would help the markets to sail more smoothly, and it will have to wait till the first week of June," said Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Osho Krishan, Senior Analyst - Technical & Derivative Research, Angel One pointed out that major heavyweight Nifty Bank still lacks conviction. He said that the participation of Nifty Bank is crucial to strengthening momentum in the upcoming week.

In the first special trading session held from 9:15 am to 10:00 am on May 18, Sensex and Nifty ended flat with all 13 major sectoral indices closing in green.