Mumbai: The SENSEX opened firm and later surged up further on the back of a rally in PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) stocks during morning trading at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on August 8 on sustained buying by operators and institutional investors prompted by hopes of strong economic growth.

The BSE Sensitive Index opened remarkably higher at 3824.26 as against August 7 close of 3806.83 and later rose further to a high at 3851.15 before being quoted at 3838.05 at 10.45 am.

Speculators and institutional investors seemed to have shifted their attention to PSU sector, particularly stocks of disinvestment companies like HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd) and BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd).

Brokers attributed increased buying to a bright outlook for the economic growth following favourable monsoon.

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has projected a robust outlook for the economy in his first quarterly statement on the economy and the budget.

PSU stocks like HPCL, BPCL, BHEL, ONGC, SCI, IOC, IBP and Nalco were in the limelight on hectic buying support.

Index-based shares like Tata Motor, SBI, Satyam Computer, RIL, Dr Reddy's Lab, GACL, HLL, Infosys Tech and ITC were quoted substantially higher.

Among the top gainers, Torrent Pharma were quoted up by5.69 per cent, Philips by 5.10 per cent, BHEL by 4.53 per cent, Sterlite Optical by 3.85 per cent, Videocon Int by 3.74 per cent, Gesco by 3.60 per cent, HCL Info by 3.56 per cent, D-Link by 3.56 per cent and SCI by 2.97 per cent.

PTI