Mumbai: The SENSEX opened moderately higher and later showed irregular movements even as select old economy stocks hit 52-week highs during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on July 17 on fresh purchases by operators and foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

The BSE SENSITIVE INDEX opened moderately higher at 3728.84 as against July 16's close of 3721.65 and later fluctuated in a range between 3737.47 and 3719.75 before being quoted at 3727.49 at 10.40 hours (IST).

Steel and select bank shares were in the limelight on fairly heavy purchases by institutional investors.

A smart rally in steel major Tisco was attributed to expectations of higher profits during the current fiscal.

Heavy weighted counters like Tisco, Telco, RIL, L&T and a few others touched 52-week highs during the trading at early stages, brokers said adding, FIIs which are expected to pump in their funds on Indian bourses continuously, are believed to be the principal driving force behind the market.

PTI