Sensex crosses 10,000 mark

The major support to the Sensex came from Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, ACC, Bajaj Auto and HDFC.

Powered by across-the-board buying spree from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), the Sensex on Monday surpassed the 10,000 point psychological level for the first time to hit a new peak at 10,002.83 minutes before the close.

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The BSE barometer scored the biggest gain of 238 points after September 26, 2005 when it had risen by 256.32 points.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Benchmark 30-share Index (Sensex) scaled the intra-trade record high of 10,002.83 before ending the day at an all-time closing peak of 9,980.42 against Friday's close of 9,742.58, a net rise of a whopping 237.84 points or 2.44 per cent.

		Track the Sensex Bull on the run Sensex journey May 17, 2004: 4,505   Oct 25, 2004: 5,581   Nov 24, 2004: 6,035   Feb 11, 2005: 6,633   June 21, 2005: 7,076   July 25, 2005: 7,505   Oct 21, 2005: 8,068   Nov 16, 2005: 8,595   Nov 28, 2005: 9,005.6   Feb 6, 2006: 10,000-mark   Behind the Bull run FII investment: There is a perception that Indian economy will grow by 8 per cent.   Huge liquidity: A lot of retail money is entering the liquidity market. Domestic mutual funds had invested Rs 408 crores in November 2005 when Sensex touched the 9K-mark.   Robust equity: Among the world's emerging economies, India's robust equity market promises healthy returns.

FIIs heavily poured in their investments into equities as a sign of their confidence into India's growing economy.

Local funds, which have been flush with funds accumulated through unit schemes, too pumped in aggressively in blue chips on the back of the country's robust economic growth and generally encouraging corporate performance.

Setting aside reports that the profit growth rate of many companies was down to a 14-quarter low of 3.57 per cent in the quarter ended December 31, 2005, the market took a giant leap to the historic level in a pre-budget rally on a likely cut in railway freight rates by 20 per cent.

Bank, Refinery, metal and Auto shares led the charge and contributed immensely to the upward spiral of the market.

RIL, ONGC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Tata Steel, L&T, Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, TCS Ltd and Infosys Tech showed sharp rises.

EXPERTSPEAK:

Following are some quick comments from analysts:

"This market can certainly go up to 11,000 points and that should be possible in the next one year. The market may go below 10,000 in the short-term but a couple of good quarterly earnings can justify the valuations, which are currently looking slightly stretched.

"We are buying as we have raised a pretty big sum from a recent fund launch."

--N Sethuram, Chief Investment Officer at SBI Mutual Fund who manages assets worth $2.4 billion

"It is a historic market and shows what has happened in India in the last three years. We were expecting this to happen for the last 10 days and it has come at a very appropriate time."

--Hemang Raja, Managing Director and CEO IL&FS Investsmart Ltd

"The psychological 10K market has been touched but not breached. On a day when no-one was even bullish, forget a 200-point jump, it appears the Sensex has been pulled, catching almost everybody, particularly the bears, unawares."

--Arun Kejriwal, Strategist, KRIS