Sensex closes at new peak

STOCK REPORT

These days, the market never seems to run out of excuses for celebration and on Wednesday it had two reasons - the benchmark index climbed to a new closing peak of 11,183.48 points and in the process surpassed the Dow Jones.

Strong hopes of excellent fourth quarter corporate performance prompted renewed buying interest among investors.

Operators were seen enlarging their positions in the cash, while covering short in the futures ahead of the expiry of March contract on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and local mutual funds remained the main drivers of the market with consistent and heavy net investments during the month.

Extending the winning streak to the fourth day in a row, the BSE's 30-share index (Sensex) opened firm at 11,103.87 and gradually moved upwards to the new intra-trade record high of 11,197.64 before ending the day at a new closing peak of 11,183.48 against Tuesday's close of 11,086.03, a net rise of 97.45 points or 0.88 per cent.

Wednesday's stocks rally has, for the first time, lifted the Sensex past the Dow Jones industrial average, which ended at 11,154.54 on Tuesday.

The sharpness of market's bullish fervour could be gauged by fresh commitments made by operators and retail investors, which had been cautious during last week, stock brokers said.

Renewed buying interest from the market players was largely credited to strong expectations of excellent Q4 corporate earnings to be announced early next month.

FIIs and mutual funds, which have accumulated large chunk of money raised through various unit schemes and are seen as potential buyers at this level, however, hold the key.