The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex moved up for the second consecutive day today, gaining nearly 24 points in early trade on continued buying by funds and retail investors supported by firming Asian bourses.
The 30-share Sensex, which had gained 86.78 points in the previous trading session, rose by another 23.78 points to 17,664.86.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 12.95 points to trade at 5,287.80.
Stocks of metals and PSU companies were in good demand, helping Sensex to trade in the positive zone.
Brokers said the better-than-expected quarterly earnings posted by some companies so far and the firm trend on the other Asian markets, boosted the positive sentiment among funds and retail investors who took to buying of the stocks.
In the Asian market, Hong Kong’s stock market benchmark Hang Seng index opened 23.92 points up at 21,483.93, while Japan’s Nikkei-225 index gained 5.38 points in the first minute of trading.
Major gainers in the domestic market were Reliance Industries up by 1.75 per cent to Rs 882.20, Tata Steel by 1 per cent to Rs 644, Hindalco by 0.81 per cent to Rs 168.60, Maruti Suzuki by 0.61 per cent to Rs 1,442.70 and Tata Motors by 0.21 per cent to Rs 810.
