Mumbai: The SENSEX opened firm and rallied past 3,000-psychological barrier in line with fresh rally in IT stocks and select old economy shares at early stages on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on November 15 on fresh buying support prompted by a chain of positive developments.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened strong at 2,997.47 as against a close of 2,986.56 on November 14 and later surged up further to a high of 3,015.01 before being quoted at 3,014.60 at 10:30 hours (IST).

Attributing consistent upward trend in software counters, to a fresh spurt in New York stocks that lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 143.64 points and the NASDAQ Composite Index by 50.18 points on November 14, brokers said that reports about a possible upgrade of India's FOREX rating and a likely cut in petrol and diesel prices supported the sentiment.

However, brokers seemed to be cautious over any price rally due to profit booking by speculators whenever the market moved upwards in the past several sessions.

PTI