Mumbai: Led by banking and auto sectors, the market once again hit the magic 6000-mark before ending at 5996.70 today (Nov 16, 2004) in an otherwise restricted activity with foreign funds playing pivotal role amid sliding global oil prices.

For the second consecutive session, the BSE barometer breached the psychologically important 6000-mark, minutes before the close of trade but shied away from ending at the crucial level that, brokers said, was expected to pave the way for a smart price rally.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened moderately higher at 5970.04 and later fluctuated in a limited range between 6002.03 and 5949.24 before ending the day at 5996.70 as against last Friday's muharat session (Nov 12, 2004) close of 5964.01, a net rise of 32.69 points or 0.55 per cent.

Banking and auto as well as mid-cap counters attracted fairly good buying interest as activity picked up after the mid-session with investors shifting focus to low-priced stocks.

Attributing lacklustre activity and low volume to the prevailing holiday mood, brokers anticipated the activity to pick up shortly with key crude-oil-price factor providing necessary ground for the market to take-off.

In Asian trade this morning, oil prices fell by 23 cents to $46.64 per barrel. The Benchmark light, sweet crude is more than $8.50 cheaper per barrel from its closing record of $55.17 hit on October 22 and 26.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to pump in funds in the Indian bourses with strong economic fundamentals.