The BSE benchmark Sensex today rose by nearly 99 points in early trade, extending gains for the second straight session, on sustained buying by funds amid a firm trend on other Asian bourses.
The 30-share index, which had gained 207.89 points yesterday, rose further by 98.95 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 19,669.69 points with all the sectoral indices, led by consumer durables and metals, trading in the positive zone with gains of up to 1.42 per cent.
The wide-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange moved up by 19.30 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 5,928.25.
Brokers said besides hopes of a rate cut by RBI in its policy review next week, a firming trend on other Asian bourses, following overnight gains at the US markets, mainly buoyed the trading sentiment here.
However, shares of country's largest private sector banks -- ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were under pressure and fell up to 1.22 per cent, after reports of alleged acts of money laundering.
In other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 0.38 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei by 0.84 per cent in early trade today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.58 per cent in yesterday's trade.
