Mumbai: The SENSEX opened on a firm note and later fluctuated in an extremely narrow range at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on January 7 due largely to lack of fresh buying by operators and slow down by foreign institutional investors' (FIIs) activity.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened remarkably up at 3,350.18 as against the January 6 close of 3,334.89, but later was trapped in a small range of 3,350.18 and 3,338.76 before being quoted at 3,342.03 at 10:30 hours (IST).

Partly attributing the negative activity by foreign funds which have been net sellers to the tune of Rs 51 crore in the first three sessions of the New Year, to a possible invasion of Iraq, brokers said foreign investors were believed to have been pulling out from Indian markets to invest in the US markets on hopes of revival of economic package.

Domestic funds seemed to be buyers in select heavyweights including pharma stocks.

PTI