Mumbai: The SENSEX opened moderately higher and later rallied further during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on March 26 on fresh buying, prompted by a positive turnaround on Wall Street on March 25 night.

The stocks rally in New York markets were attributed to reports that prospects brightened for the US-led military action to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a result of Iraqi peoples reported rebellion against Iraqi soldiers.

The BSE sensitive index opened better at 3,148.07 as against March 25 close of 3,140.42 and later rose to a high of 3,165.38 before being quoted at 3,163.07 at 10.30 am (IST).

Stock brokers said foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have been net buyers for the last four sessions from March 19 onwards, were believed to have stepped up their purchases.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the NASDAQ composite index gained 65.55 points and 21.23 points on March 25 respectively.

The global markets improved on President George W. Bush's comments about progress in Iraq and reports of a popular uprising in the Southern Iraqi city of Basra.

IT stocks stole the limelight with the IT bellwether Infosys Tech and Satyam Computers scoring handsome gains. Other heavyweights like RIL, Tisco, ITC, BHEL, HCL Techno, Ranbaxy Lab and Dr Reddy's Lab were quoted remarkably higher.

PTI