Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied by 100.55 points to 31,802.80 in late morning session on buying in auto, banking, oil and gas stocks.
Bouts of bargain hunting amid some shortcovering swayed the market sentiment as investors remained edgy on escalating geopolitical tensions between North Korea and the US.
The 30-share Sensex opened higher at 31,755.16 and hovered between 31,819.99 and 31,722.61 in morning session. It was trading at 31,802.80, up 100.55 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1100 hrs.
The 50-share Nifty was also trading higher by 27.65, 0.28 percent at 9,940.50.
Among major gainers, Asian Paint rose by 1.34 percent, Bajaj Auto by 1.32 percent, Reliance by 1.25 percent and Tata Steel by 0.73 percent.
Banking stocks were in the green with Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI rising up to 0.67 percent.
Bharti Airtel however fell the most by 3.27 percent.
Losses in IT major Infosys and TCS, Sun Pharma, Lupin and Mahindra and Mahindra capped the Sensex gains.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 873.91 crore on net basis yesterday, showed provisional data. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also sold shares worth Rs 49.10 crore.
Asian stocks were trading on a mixed note as traders awaited further developments on North Korea front. China's Caixin/Markit August services purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed an increase to 52.7 today, from 51.5 in the previous month.
-- Rupee pares early losses, still down by 7 paise--
The rupee pared its initial losses but was still quoting down by 7 paise to 64.12 per dollar in late morning deals.
The rupee resumed lower at 64.10 per dollar at the interbank foreign exchange (Forex) against yesterday's closing level of Rs 64.05 per dollar.
The domestic unit hovered between 64.18 and 64.0850 during morning deals. It was quoting at 64.12 at 1145 hrs.
Dollar weakening globally on continued North Korean tensions capped the rupee losses, a dealer said
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was trading lower by 0.10 percent at 92.51.
