The BSE Sensex advanced nearly 54 points in opening trade today, spurred by a fresh spell of buying in select blue-chip stocks...

The BSE Sensex advanced nearly 54 points in opening trade today, spurred by a fresh spell of buying in select blue-chip stocks like Infosys, TCS, and Sun Pharma amid mixed global cues. Sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and short-covering of outstanding positions by speculators ahead of tomorrow's June series expiry in the derivatives segment also supported the uptrend, brokers said. The 30-share index was trading higher by 53.85 points, or 0.15 percent, at 35,543.89.

Blue-chips like Infosys, TCS rise

IT, teck, healthcare and consumer durables indices were in the green, with gains of up to 0.86 percent.  The NSE Nifty added 16.35 points, or 0.15 percent, at 10,785.50. Major gainers were TCS, Infosys, Sun Pharma, M&M, RIL, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, HDFC Ltd, Tata Motors and Yes Bank, rising by up to 1.62 percent. DIIs bought shares Rs 238.05 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 538.40 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.33 percent

At other Asian markets, Singapore was up 0.25 percent and Taiwan 0.12 percent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.33 percent in their early deals. Hong Kong's Hang Seng too fell 0.41 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.12 percent higher yesterday.