Mumbai: Share prices rallied smartly at opening session on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on June 19 on fairly heavy buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and operators.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened slightly lower at 3,429.00 as against June 18 close of 3,430.96. Buying in select heavyweights pushed up SENSEX to a high of 3,462.55 before being quoted at 3,458.72 at 11.45 am (IST).

Index-based shares like RIL, ITC, Grasim, HPCL, ACC, BSES, HDFC, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Colgate, SBI and Tisco were quoted remarkably higher, aiding the SENSEX rise.

Grasim Industries regained in limelight on good buying for the second successive day.

FIIs continued their buying spree in some of the old-economy blue chips and reportedly picked up shares worth Rs 405 crore on the first two days of the week.

Encouraged by sustained by FIIs, operators and retail investors also joined the buying bandwagon.

Select software shares, however, were quoted moderately lower on selling.

PTI