Mumbai: Boosted by a dramatic turnaround in Information Technology (IT) bellwether Infosys Technologies, the SENSEX remained in positive terrain for the second successive week on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), backed by heavy purchases from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and operators.

A sharp to moderate rise in other index-based counters like SBI, Telco, Tisco, BHEL, HPCL, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, MTNL and Satyam Computer also added to the SENSEX gains.

Had there not been a marked fall in other shares of the index family like RIL, HLL, ITC, Zee Telefilms, L&T, Cipla, ACC, Glaxo, HCL Techno, Hero Honda and Nestle, the rise in the index would have been more pronounced, a broker said.

"Infosys Tech shares reacted initially after the company announced lower-than- expected third quarter earnings, but later rebounded on large-scale buying enquiries at lower levels by FII's," another dealer said.

As a result, majority of software stocks, particularly second-rung, finished with steep gains. Rise in these shares also partly attributed to the entry of some of them into recently announced list for the derivative segment by Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Brokers expect activity to pick up next week with increased investment by FIIs which were net buyers worth Rs 482 crore in the first four sessions while local funds booked profits in several blue-chip counters.

Led by SBI, the banking sector was also in keen demand on fairly good investment buying.

However, petro-chem giant, RIL suffered a setback on reports that global rating agency Moody's Investors Service cut RIL outlook from stable to negative.

Pharma counters ruled mixed on alternate bouts of buying and selling.

Meanwhile, world oil prices shot up to a two-year high after UN weapons inspectors reported the discovery of empty chemical warheads in Iraq, fuelling renewed tensions in the Middle East.

The BSE 30-share sensitive index opened slightly lower at 3,355.07 and moved in a range of 3,382.53 and 3,321.49 before concluding the week at 3,370.39 as against last weekend's close of 3,358.99, netting a rise of 11.40 points or 0.34 per cent.

PTI