Mumbai, Aug 7: Buoyed by a firming trend on other Asian bourses, the BSE benchmark rose by almost 59 points in early trade today, extending yesterday's gain on increased buying by funds and retail investors.
The 30-share BSE index, which had gained 215.03 points in the previous session, rose further by 58.66 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 17,471.62 with stocks of IT, healthcare and consumer durables leading the rise.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index moved up by 8.55 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 5,291.10 points.
Brokers said pick-up in buying by funds was triggered by a firming trend on other Asian bourses following overnight gains in Europe and on Wall Street on hopes that the European Central Bank may take action soon to ease the continent's debt crisis.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.18 per cent and Japan's Nikkei Index by 0.60 per cent in morning trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.16
per cent higher in yesterday's trade.
