Wednesday, June 1 2005 17:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Led by mid-cap and small-cap stocks, the market today (Jun 1, 2005) continued its upward march for the second day in a row, gaining by 15 points on the back of fresh purchases by domestic mutual funds as well as operators.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which had been net sellers during the month, also were believed to be net buyers in select key counters. FIIs reported net investments of Rs 195.30 crore on Monday.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened firm at 6729.39 and later rose to the day's high of 6763.28 on expectations that local funds will once again step up purchases in equities after booking profits on May 30.

However, profit booking from investors in the latter part of the session pulled down Sensex to end the day at 6729.90 as against yesterday's close of 6715.11, a net rise of 14.75 points or 0.22 per cent.

Domestic mutual funds reportedly were heavy buyers in mid-cap and small-cap stocks in the two sessions after making net withdrawals of Rs 136.32 crore on Monday.

Operators, by and large, remained cautious selectively picking up stocks at lower levels and booking profits in heavy-weighted counters at every rise, brokers said.

Pharma and Auto stocks attracted fairly good demand from institutional investors while metal and IT counters suffered a setback due to selling pressure.

Meanwhile, global oil prices climbed past the $ 52 a barrel level in late morning trading in Singapore.

RIL, Bajaj Auto, Ranbaxy, ONGC, HDFC, Tata Motor, ICICI Bank, HLL and REL scored handsome gains.