Mumbai: Hectic buying by retail investors coupled with fresh purchases by foreign funds ignited a smart rally in stocks aiding the SENSEX to shoot up at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on February 11.

Encouraged by a strong turnaround on Wall Street on February 8 as well as reports of a likely reduction in average customs duty level to 23 per cent in the coming Union Budget, investors were seen taking up heavy positions in old economy stocks, market sources said adding, "Fairly good net purchase by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) on February 7 was another encouraging factor for the market."

The BSE Sensitive Index opened past 3500-level at 3500.41 as against February 8 close of 3493.92, and later rallied smartly to a high of 3551.95 before being quoted at 3539.86 at 10:30 hours.

PTI