The Sensex jumped 254 points on Friday as investors covered short positions ahead of the full year’s budget which is to be announced on Monday.

The rally in the benchmark, which closed at 14,913, was led by HDFC (up  7.7 percent). Gains in Tata Steel, M&M and Reliance Infrastructure also helped.

Banking stocks were the top performers, with PNB, Oriental Bank, Union Bank and ICICI gaining over 3 percent each. All sectoral indices closed positive.

Reliance Natural was the top traded counter on the BSE, gaining nearly 7 percent. Suzlon Energy, Ispat Industries and Satyam were among the other top traded stocks.

Shares in railway operators gained after Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in the budget that private operations of freight terminals would be encouraged. Shares in Container Corp of India ended up 4 percent. (Click here for complete coverage).

All eyes are now on what Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee will announce on Monday. Where do you see the market next week?