Mumbai: The SENSEX opened better and rallied past 3,300-level in line with fresh rally in select key stocks at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 11 on continued purchases by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

The BSE sensitive index opened firm at 3,298.94 as against close of 3,289.68 on December 10 and later surged up to a high of 3,324.23 before being quoted at 3,308.75 at 10.45 am (IST).

Select heavy weighted counters like Infosys Technologies, MTNL, RIL, SBI, Zee Telefilms, ACC and some others were in keen demand.

FIIs were believed to be consistent buyers in a few blue-chip shares at the early stages.

Brokers said the sentiment has changed for better in the light of the government's fresh initiatives to speed up reforms, particularly privatisation process.

The sentiment was also aided by a smart recovery in new stocks on December 10 night. The Dow Jones industrial average rose by about 101 points and the NASDAQ composite index by about 24 points on December 10.

PTI