Mumbai: The SENSEX opened slightly lower and immediately turned strong on the back of selective rally led by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on November 20 on fresh buying by domestic as well as foreign funds.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened fractionally lower at 3,056.18 as against a close of 3,057.16 on November 18 but later turned better and rose to a high of 3,077.23 before being quoted at 3,075.29 at 10:30 hours (IST).

Key counters like HLL, ACC, Infosys Technologies, ITC, MTNL, RIL, SBI and Tisco were quoted remarkably up on fresh buying by domestic funds.

Brokers said that the market has turned strong on announcement by global rating agency Moody's Investors Service about a possible upgrading of India's credit rating sustained buying prompted a marginal rise in its weightage in the MSCI Index.

PTI