Mumbai: Led by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), blue-chips made a strong turnaround after a weak start and posted handsome gains aiding the SENSEX to end 30 points higher on the Stock Exchange on January 31 on hectic buying prompted by better-than-expected Q3 results by RIL.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan's statement that escalation in international crude prices over the threat of a US-led attack on Iraq will have a marginal impact on India's inflation also had positive impact on the market.

After touching the day's low at 3199.18 the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) Benchmark 30-share Index recovered its losses and rallied smartly to end at 3250.38 as against yesterday's close of 3219.88, netting a rise of 30.50 points or 0.95 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index rose by 7.72 points to 1600.87 from previous close of 1593.15.

Contrary to fears of discouraging performance for third quarter by RIL, the company's announcement of a 24.05 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 1,083 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2002, attracted investors to enlarge commitments in select heavyweighted stocks.

ICICI Bank also registered higher net profit at Rs 330 crore for the third quarter over Rs 70.02 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Technology sector discounted a sharp slide on Wall Street last night and rallied smartly on fresh buying by investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index dipped by 165.58 points and 35.71 points yesterday respectively.

PTI