Markets climb new peaks and make history during the week

Rex Mathew
25 June 2005

The Sensex made the much awaited 7000-mark during the week as the markets maintained an up trend for most of the week on the back of increased FII inflows. The Nifty also crossed the 2200- mark to post new all time highs during the week.

Most negative cues were ignored during the week as fresh liquidity pushed up stock prices. Oil prices are at a historic high and US markets saw their worst decline in the last couple of months during the week. Monsoon rains are showing great lethargy in covering the length of the country from south to north. The rains so far during the month are almost half of normal.

Sensex touched the 7000-mark on Monday itself as the Reliance pack strengthened the markets after the Ambani settlement. The index, however, could not close above 7000. On Tuesday, the Sensex closed above 7000, helped by heavyweights like ONGC, ICICI Bank and HLL and the continued strength in Reliance.

The rally continued to Wednesday as FII buying remained strong even when domestic mutual funds made substantial sales. Volumes also shot up after a spate of block deals. Retail investors were also active on reports of Japanese investors pumping more money into India dedicated funds.

Thursday saw some profit booking, though the decline was marginal when compared to the gains of previous three days. The indices scaled new heights on Friday as many large FMCG stocks saw considerable gains. Among the large stocks, ONGC and TCS strengthed the Nifty.

After declining on Monday and under-performing the frontline indices during the middle of the week, mid-caps bounced back on Thursday and Friday. The CNX Mid-cap 200 index gained well over a per cent in the last two days, bringing some cheer to the retail investors. The index also managed to close well above the 3000-mark for the week.