Sensex up 121 pts in opening trade on Asian cues

The benchmark Sensex rose by 121 points in opening trade today on buying by foreign funds and retail investors driven by firming Asian markets.

The 30-share index rose by 121.12 points to 16,337.98 points in opening trade with all sectoral indices gaining up to 1.09 per cent. The barometer had surged by over 818 points in the past five sessions.
    
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 36.75 points to 4,856.15 points.
    
Brokers said firming trend on other Asian markets after a strong Chinese economic data for August boosted buying on the domestic front. Expectations that improved rainfall would enhance prospects for winter crops also accelerated buying.
    
Among major gainers, Reliance Industries rose by 0.74 per cent to Rs 2,165.15, Reliance Infra by 0.9 per cent to Rs 1,186.50, Rcom by 0.50 per cent to Rs 304.50, Infosys Technologies by 0.85 per cent to Rs 2,254, TCS by 0.92 per cent to Rs 561.50 and DLF Ltd by 1.26 per cent to Rs 413.90.

Hindalco gained 1.88 per cent to Rs 119.35, Tata Steel 0.39 per cent to Rs 472.20, HDFC Ltd 1.37 per cent to Rs 2,529 and State Bank of India 0.62 per cent to Rs 1,891.

Hong Kong's market index Hang Seng was up 0.75 per cent in morning trade today. The US' Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.84 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.