Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex opened 208 points higher today, snapping its three-day falling streak, as investors and domestic institutions widened their bets amid firm Asian cues.
Short-covering by speculators ahead of February F&O expiry tomorrow added to the upward move.
NSE Nifty also reclaimed the 10,400-mark rising 65.70 points, or 0.63 percent, to 10,426.10.
The BSE 30-share barometer gained 207.77 points, or 0.61 percent, to 33,911.36. The gauge had lost 593.88 points in the previous three sessions.
Sectoral indices led by IT, Teck, consumer durables and realty stocks were in the green, rising up to 0.91 percent.
Major gainers were Dr Reddy's, TCS, Infosys, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Wipro and RIL, gaining up to 1.61 percent.
Meanwhile, Coal India dropped 1.4 percent in early trade on government decision to open the coal sector to private players.
Gitanjali Gems remained weak and cracked another 9.85 percent, while Punjab National Bank traded higher by 1.24 percent in early deals.
Brokers said fresh buying in select blue chip stocks, coupled with covering-up of outstanding short positions ahead of the February F&O expiry tomorrow, had a positive impact on the market.
Sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs)and a firm trend in other Asian bourses with investors awaiting the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting later today too influenced sentiments, they said.
On a net basis, DIIs bought shares worth Rs 1,437.24 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 850.35 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by stock exchanges.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.15 percent and Japan's Nikkei up 0.64 percent in early trade, while Shanghai Composite index remained shut today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 1.01 percent in yesterday's trade.
