Stocks: Bourses made headway in the first week of the New Year with both key indices, the benchmark Sensex and Nifty, adding more than 2 per cent to their kitty in anticipation of encouraging third quarter earnings.
The market sentiment was also boosted on concluding day of the week, by Finance Minister P Chidambaram's statement that he would like PSU banks to cut deposit and lending rates by half a per cent to spur investment and consumption so that the economy can be sustained on a high growth path.
The market witnessed brisk activity as investors focused their attention on the small-cap and the mid-cap segments, indices of which also scored impressive gains.
In the week to January 5, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share index ended at a new record high of 20,686.89, a net rise of 479.94 points or 2.38 per cent over last weekend's close of 20,206.95.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also soared by 135.70 points or 2.21 per cent to end the week at an all-time high of 6,274.30 from previous weekend's close of 6,079.70.
Reflecting sustained high level activity in second-line stocks, the small-cap and the mid-cap indices flared up by 982.82 points or 7.62 per cent and 538.49 points or 5.62 per cent to 13,884.11 and 10,113.06 respectively at the weekend.
{{/usCountry}}Reflecting sustained high level activity in second-line stocks, the small-cap and the mid-cap indices flared up by 982.82 points or 7.62 per cent and 538.49 points or 5.62 per cent to 13,884.11 and 10,113.06 respectively at the weekend.
{{/usCountry}}Market players looked optimistic of a strong bull run as corporates will start announcing Q3 results from January 11 onwards coupled with Chidambaram's advise to state-owned banks to lower interest rates.