Mumbai: The SENSEX opened steady and later fluctuated in a wide range in volatile activity at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on May 17 on buying support alternated by selling by local institutions.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened fractionally up at 3,357.29 as against the previous close of 3,355.61 and later moved erratically in a range between 3,373.40 and 3,317.25 before being quoted at 3,346.96 at 10.45 am.

New economy stocks, particularly low-priced counters which have been known to be in the portfolios of arrested "Big Bull" Ketan Parekh, got persistent beating as speculators and retail investors were continuously off-loading in it.

Majority of PSU stocks were sighted in the top ten gainers besides heavy weighted key counters like RIL and SBI which showed marked gains on heavy buying support.

PTI