Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex trimmed its initial gains, but was still quoting higher by 162 points in the late morning trade after the Reserve Bank announced measures to increase the availability of cash in the banking system.

Bank stocks rallied after the RBI relaxed some rules that will help banks deal with the notional or mark-to-market loss in their government bond portfolios due to a recent sharp fall in bond prices.

Consumer durable, capital good, realty and PSU shares also firmed up on good buying enquiries.

The Sensex resumed higher at 18,545.44 and advanced further to 18,567.70.

However, a bout of profit-booking saw Sensex give up some gains to trade at 18,378.73 before quoting at 18,408.41, still showing a gain of 162.37 points or 0.89 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also firmed up by 64.45 points or 1.19 percent to 5,465.90 at 10.30 a.m.

Major gainers were BHEL (6.26 percent), HDFC Bank (5.45 percent), SBI (4.46 percent), ICICI Bank (3.23 percent), HDFC (3.21 percent) and M&M (1.93 percent).

Most Asian stocks fell in their early trade before the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting. Key indices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea were down by 0.36 per cent to 1.07 per cent while indices in China and Indonesia rose by 0.08 per cent to 1.26 percent.

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