Mumbai: After a weak start, the SENSEX turned strong on the back of a smart rally in old economy stocks at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 5on fairly good purchases by foreign as well as domestic funds.

The BSE benchmark 30-share Index opened substantially lower at 3,186.62 as against the previous close of 3,207.36 but later rallied sharply and was quoted at 3,241.28 at 10.30 am (IST).

Some leading foreign funds and local mutual funds were believed to be heavy buyers in select blue chip counters and several low-priced second-line stocks.

Ruling out any buying by retail investors at the prevailing price levels, brokers said foreign funds have been consistent buyers in old economy stocks since December 4.

PTI