Mumbai: After a sharp rebound of about 80 points, the SENSEX opened firm and later moved irregularly in line with a fresh rally in select blue-chip counters during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on September 24 on sustained buying support from investors.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened strong at 4249.93 as against the September 23 close of 4231.69 and later fluctuated in a range between 4256.52 and 4229.87 before being quoted at 4239.30 at 10:30 hours (IST).

Brokers said the principal driving force behind the selective rally was increased investments by foreign funds that made net purchases over Rs 1,000 crore in the last five sessions.

However, brokers anticipate squaring up by speculators in view of the approaching end of account in the futures and options. Operators are expected to square up their short as well as long positions before the last Thursday of the month which is the last day of derivatives account.

The sentiment was also aided by encouraging New York advices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite Index rose by 40.63 points and 27.10 points on September 23 night respectively.

Index-based shares like BHEL, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, HDFC, Infosys Tech, ITC, L&T, Nestle, Ranbaxy and Tisco were quoted remarkably higher.

PTI