Mumbai: The SENSEX opened higher and later continued its upsurge on the back of a smart rally in select heavyweights at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on June 5 following sustained buying support from speculators and domestic funds.

Investors seemed to be keen in building positions in low-priced second-line stocks, which attracted fairly heavy demand and were quoted sharply higher in morning trading.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened better at 3,200.71 as against a close of 3,191.60 on June 4 and later firmed up to a high of 3,231.02 before being quoted at 3,230.40 at 10:30 hours (IST).

Market sources said though the Unit Trust of India (UTI) was facing financial crunch and believed to be continued sellers, some domestic funds and punters were seen accumulating shares of second-rung stocks as well as key old economy counters.

Steel shares rallied smartly on reports of rising steel prices in international markets.

IT stocks also met with moderate buying and showed modest gains even as the NASDAQ composite index, which dipped sharply on June 3, recovered partly by 15.56 points on June 4 night.

PTI