Mumbai: Powered by a strong upsurge in Reliance Industry Lmt (RIL), the SENSEX opened firm and later rallied smartly at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on March 4 following fresh buying by speculators on the back of sustained purchases by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

One of the heavyweight counters, RIL, which scored sharp gains last weekend on RIL- RPL merger plans, rallied further smartly on March 4 on consistent buying support prompted by the company's announcement of interim dividends of 47.5 per cent as well as the company's advantageous position in terms of greater ability to invest in projects after the merger.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened firm at 3734.04 as against close of 3678.75 on March 1 and later advanced further to a high of 3758.27 before being quoted at 3712.63 at 10:30 hours (IST).

However, profit booking by investors later pared gains in several old economy counters mitigating the SENSEX rally.

Infosys Technologies, Satyam computers, MTNL and BSES were quoted substantially higher.

FIIs, which remained net buyers to the tune of Rs 410.60 crore between February 25- 28, having made heavy purchases on March 1, seemed to be continuous buyers in key counters.

The sentiment was also aided by a sharp rally on Wall Street last weekend that sent market averages to their highest closing values in six months.

PTI