Monday, November 14 2005 11:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Extending rally to third consecutive week, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Benchmark 30-share Index (sensex) opened past 8500 level and surged up smartly during morning trade on fairly good buying support by operators on the back of sustained Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) inflows in the month.

The sensex, which gained by over 785 points or 10 per cent in the last two weeks, opened strong at 8503.70 against Friday's (Nov 11, 2005) close of 8471.04 and later surged up to a high of 8569.91 before being quoted at 8551.16 at 10.30 am, up by 80.12 points over previous close.

Foreign Institutional Investors have been consistent buyers in the current month and have pumped in over 1189 crore in the first four sessions last week.

Sliding global oil prices and a faster-than-expected growth in industrial production also had a sentimental impact on the market, which remained bullish for the last two weeks.

Operators were seen creating large positions following revival of FII activity prompted largely by strong economic fundamentals, brokers said.

Domestic funds, however, were believed to be booking profits at the higher levels, they added.

Key stocks like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), State Bank of India (SBI), Satyam Computers, Tata Steel, Bharti Tele-Venture and ICICI Bank were quoted remarkably up on fresh buying support.