Thursday, August 4 2005 11:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Sharp recovery in petro-chemical giant and the top heavyweight, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), helped the sensex to open on a strong footing above 7800-mark on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today (August 4, 2005), following sustained buying by foreign funds.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index resumed sharply higher at 7810.05 as against yesterday's (August 3, 2005) close of 7756.47 and moved in a range between 7826.36 and 7783.84 before being quoted at 7806.22 at 10.30 am, up by 49.75 points.

Investors responded handsomely to the news of demerger of Reliance group and allotment of shares of Reliance Energy Limited (REL) and Reliance Capital, brokers said, adding that it would help to the brothers to concentrate on their respective businesses.

Besides RIL, select technology, pharma and auto stocks were in limelight on heavy buying support.

According to market participants, the sentiment of the market remained buoyed due to continued Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) inflows and increased participation from operators.

Among index-based shares Infosys Tech, ITC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Hindalco, L&T and Ranbaxy were quoted remarkably higher on good buying.

However, Grasim, HDFC, Hero Honda, ICICI Bank, ACC and Dr Reddy showed marked to moderate falls on profit selling.