Date:03/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/03/stories/2006030303590100.htm

Back Sensex touches 10,700-mark

Our Bureau

Mumbai , March 2

In an eventful day's trading marked by high fluctuations on Thursday, the BSE Sensex broke into 10,700-mark, rising by over 140 points midway through the session, before shedding 79.44 points on profit booking.

The Sensex ended at a record high of 10,626.78 points, an increase of 61.31 points from Wednesday, led by auto stocks (Tata Motors and Maruti) and telecom stocks (Bharti Tele and VSNL).

The NSE's S&P CNX Nifty also closed at a lifetime high of 3,150.70, an increase of 27.6 points from Wednesday.

Soon after the US President, Mr George Bush, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, reached an agreement allowing India access to US nuclear power technology, the Sensex moved up sharply. The feel-good factor emanating from the "positive" budget also helped the market to sustain the momentum. "The trend is clearly up. Next target will be 10,750 points for the Sensex," said Mr Sandeep Wagle, Chief Technical Analyst with Angel Broking.

FIIs buying drive price

Dealers said FIIs have turned aggressive buyers in the market and this was influencing stock prices. FIIs were net buyers to the tune of $129.70 million (Rs 576 crore) on Wednesday.

Mutual funds, who were net sellers in most of the days in February, have become net buyers in the last 2-3 days.