Mumbai: Driven by a fresh bout of hectic buying spree by operators and foreign funds, the SENSEX zoomed past the crucial 4,000-mark for the first time since March 2001 and ended the week under review, with a whopping 5.20 per cent gain on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Contrary to a strong possibility of a correction before the SENSEX breaks 4,000-mark, the BSE benchmark 30-share index rallied sharply and even pierced through 4,100-mark to end the week at 4,125.12 as against last weekend's close of 3,921.20. It showed a net gain of 203.92 points and highest weekly rise in terms of points since September 28, 2001 and in terms of percentage since January 2001.

Speculative activity was so intense that retail investors turned extremely cautious having burnt their fingers during stock-booms in the past and booked profits occasionally when prices soared to new heights.

Though the rally was operator-driven with speculators creating large positions in several blue-chip counters, the anticipated growth in the economy during 2003 coupled with increased Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) activity was the principal driving force for the market. FIIs, which were net buyers, have made net investments of Rs 463 crore in the first three sessions.

The volume of business too has shown sharp increase in the week. Heavyweighted counters like RIL, Satyam Computers, Tata Motors, MTNL, L&T, ITC, Infosys Tech, HPCL, HLL, Grasim Ind, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Lab recorded hefty gains on heavy buying support.

PTI