Mumbai: The sensex rallied smartly during morning trading in line with a turnaround after the overnight sharp stocks setback on the Stock Exchange today (Mar 19, 2004) on buying by operators.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened moderately lower at 5410.48 as against yesterday's (Mar 18, 2004) close of 5414.94 but later made a strong turnaround and rose to a high at 5450.67 before being quoted at 5429.01 at 10.30 hrs (IST).

Fresh buying support is prompted by net inflows from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which have made net investments of Rs 481 crore in the initial three sessions.

Brokers said FIIs were believed to be engaged in hedging activity in derivatives segment in the last couple sessions.

The market, however, is expected to witness pressure in view of year-end considerations with continued profit booking from domestic funds and major corporates before the end of current financial year.

Key counters like RIL, Tata Motors, Tisco, SBI, Zee Tele, Satyam Computers, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, HLL, Infosys Tech and Wipro were quoted up on fresh buying support.

However, L&T, ONGC, MTNL, ITC, HPCL, GACL and ACC showed marked falls on sustained selling pressure.

While Dredging Corp, Britannia, Ashok Leyland, Bombay Dyeing, Essel Pack, Siemens and Saw Pipes were among top losers.