Sensex crosses 10,900-mark, up by 257.42 pts

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened slightly lower at 10,641.33 as against Tuesday's close.

Good buying support from foreign funds on Wednesday propelled the Bombay Stock Exchange bellwether index (Sensex) above the 10,900-point mark, posting a 257.42 points gain, even as other Asian markets were flagging.

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The key barometer last ended above the 10,900-mark on May 19, 2006.

Select shares from Fast Moving Comsumer Goods (FMCG), metals and capital goods sectors were in limelight and closed with sharp to moderate gains.

FMCG stocks showed impressive upsurge on hopes of better rains.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened slightly lower at 10,641.33 as against Tuesday's close of 10,662.22 and dipped to a low of 10,611.35.

Later, emergence of buying lifted the sensex to a high of 10,940.45, before concluding at 10,919.64, up by 2.41 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty also shot up by 58.45 points or 1.86 per cent to 3,197.10 from previous close of 3,138.65.

Dealers attributed initial weakness to subdued Asian markets. The Hang Seng was down by 101.80 points, Nikkei by 114.56 points, Taiwan by 74.55 points, the Singapore ST index by 24.62 points and Kospi by 6.07 points at close on Wednesday.

As per provisional figures, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying spree and picked up shares worth Rs 142.06 crore on Tuesday while injecting Rs 298.56 crore in Futures and Options segment on the same day.

Domestic mutual funds were also believed to be net buyers in select blue-chip counters.