Mumbai: After a strong rebound of 223 points last weekend, the Sensex opened on a firm note indicating further upsurge in share prices on the Bombay Stock Market (BSE) today (Jan 27, 2004) on continuous buying support.

The BSE benchmark 30-share index opened substantially up at 5,854.35 as against last Friday's (Jan 23, 2004) close of 5,816.64 and later rose to a high at 5,871.57 before being quoted at 5,854.90 at 10.30 hrs (IST).

Attributing fresh price rally largely to announcements of better-than-expected third quarter working by major corporates, brokers said Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's reported statement on the market's volatility and confidence that the market would move upwards had sentimental impact on the market.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) directives to the stock exchanges to keep tab on brokers circumventing margin payment requirements is believed to have made operators cautious to a certain extend.

Key counters like Tisco, Tata Motors, HPCL, RIL, Dr Reddy's Lab, Cipla, BSES, Bharti Televenture, Bajaj Auto and ACC were quoted sharply higher on fresh buying support.

Among the top gainers, Bharti Tele were quoted up by 9.27 per cent, SCI by 4.23 per cent, GAIL by 3.90 per cent, Tata Motor by 3.81 per cent, Dr Reddy's by 2.90 per cent, Corp Bank by 2.85 per cent, Hindalco by 2.54 per cent and Bajaj Auto by 2.44 per cent.

However, HCL Tech, Infosys Tech, Polaris Soft, Geometric Soft and Ranbaxy Lab showed moderate losses.