Mumbai: Powered by announcement of excellent second quarter working by Information Technology (IT) bellwether Infosys Technologies, the SENSEX opened strong and sustained its upsurge in line with an all-round rally during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on October 10.

Infosys Technologies reported a net profit of Rs 300.16 crore for the second quarter from Rs 225.77 crore in the corresponding period and recommended an interim dividend of Rs 14.50 per share.

The BSE sensitive index opened sharply up at 4,735.39 as against October 9 close of 4,698.68 and later rallied smartly to a high at 4,761.19 before being quoted at 4,748.35 at 10.30 am (IST).

Infosys Tech results seemed to have set the tone for the market, which was already bullish on the back of sustained net investments by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

FIIs alone have made net purchases of Rs 1,750 crore in the first four sessions of October.

Bulls, which had taken somewhat cautious stance ahead of announcement of quarterly results, were believed to have begun enlarging commitments in old economy stocks, brokers said.

Led by Infosys Tech, IT counters like Satyam Computers, Wipro, Mastek, HCL Tech, Geometric Software, Hexaware, HCL Info, Polaris and Digital Global were in the limelight.

Heavyweighted shares like RIL and SBI also were quoted sharply higher on fresh buying.

PTI