Sensex opens in green, advances 54 points as blue-chips rise; Nifty up; Re at 19-month low

Mumbai:  The BSE Sensex advanced nearly 54 points in opening trade today, spurred by a fresh spell of buying in select blue-chip stocks like Infosys, TCS and Sun Pharma amid mixed global cues.Sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and short-covering of outstanding positions by speculators ahead of tomorrow's June series expiry in the derivatives segment also supported the uptrend, brokers said.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 53.85 points or 0.15 percent, at 35,543.89.

IT, tech, healthcare and consumer durables indices were in the green, with gains of up to 0.86 per cent.The NSE Nifty added 16.35 points, or 0.15 percent, at 10,785.50.Major gainers were TCS, Infosys, Sun Pharma, M&M, RIL, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, HDFC Ltd, Tata Motors and Yes Bank, rising by up to 1.62 percent.DIIs bought shares Rs 238.05 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 538.40 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.At other Asian markets, Singapore was up 0.25 per cent and Taiwan 0.12 percent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.33 percent in their early deals. Hong Kong's Hang Seng too fell 0.41 percent.[caption id="attachment_2274656" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. Reuters[/caption]The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.12 percent higher yesterday.Rupee down 30 paise against US dollarThe rupee plunged by 30 paise to hit a 19-month low of 68.54 against the US dollar in early trade today on strong month-end dollar demand from importers and banks amid sustained foreign capital outflows. This is the rupee's lowest level against the greenback since 29 November  2016.The dollar's strength against some currencies overseas weighed on the local unit but a higher opening of the domestic equity markets capped the losses, traders said.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 538.40 crore yesterday, as per provisional data issued by the stock exchanges.Yesterday, the rupee lost 11 paise to end at 68.24 against the US currency.