Mumbai, March 1 (IANS) Indian equities were ruling sharply higher Tuesday, a day after the presentation of the federal budget, as investor sentiment was particularly boosted by the steps to attract foreign investors, including overseas funds, to mutual funds.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 17,982.28 points, against the previous day's close at 17,823.40 points, and shot up further to 18,337.39 points.

Some four hours into trading, the key index was ruling at 18,325.18 points, with a gain of 501.78 points, or 2.82 percent. All the 13 sector-specific indices of the exchange were also ruling in the positive territory.

Within the Sensex stocks, 29 of them were in the green and only one stock, Bharti Airtel, was in the negative territory, down 0.48 percent at Rs.329.50.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,484.80 points, with a gain of 151.55 points, or 2.84 percent over the previous close.