Sensex touches 17-month high of 17,350 points

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 119 points in the opening trade on sustained buying by funds following strong global cues.

The 30-share index gained 119.28 points to jump to a 17-month high of 17,350.39 points. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty advanced by 34.05 points at 5,152.25 points, backed by a steep rise in heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries.

Marketmen said sustained inflow of foreign funds kept the market in a cheerful mood. They said a better trend in Asian markets also supported the uptrend. Hong Kong's Hang seng rose by 0.89 per cent, while Japanese Nikkei-225 index gained 1.35 per cent in the morning trade after the reports that the US benchmark index Dow Jones had breached the 10,000-point mark for the first time in a year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, last night, closed at 10,015.86, up 1.47 per cent, after a strong rally triggered by better-than-expected results from chip maker Intel Corp and JPMorgan Chase.