Sensex up 54 points in early trade

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 54 points in early trade, extending gains for the second straight day, as participants made selective buying in shares of RIL, ONGC, SBI and Infosys. The 30-share index gained 54.14 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 25,575.33. The gauge had gained 330.71 points in the last session on late heavy fund-based buying.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 14.60 points, 0.19 per cent, to 7,646.30. Brokers said selective buying by participants despite a mixed trend on other Asian bourses, amidst deepening crisis in Iraq, influenced the sentiments here. They said comments by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan that India is better prepared to deal with any fallout from the ongoing Iraq crisis had a positive impact.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.32 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei moved up by 0.23 per cent in early trade on June 18. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.16 per cent higher ahead of an upcoming Federal Reserve policy statement.