Tuesday, May 24 2005 17:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Weathering intermittent selling, the Sensex today (May 24, 2005) surged by yet another 25.54 points to close at 6565.37 on the stock exchange Mumbai (BSE) on sustained buying by local funds and operators, buoyed by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's positive statement on the country's economy.

Extending gains for the four straight session, the market breadth remained favourable with advances outnumbering laggards and the outlook upbeat for a further rally.

Sentiment was boosted by Chidambaram's reiteration of a seven per cent growth this year and the Government's resolve to keep interest rate "benign" even as it would be committed to contain inflationary pressures, dealers said.

"If Inflation is low, borrowings are less and interest rate are benign, then the growth rate would be the same as the last year (close to 7 per cent of GDP)" Chidambaram said.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened firm at 6563.02 as against yesterday's close of 6539.83 and dipped to a low of 6522.80 on profit selling. Later, fresh buying lifted the index to the day's high of 6579.05 before concluding at 6565.37, a marginal gain of 0.39 per cent.

Domestic mutual funds reportedly purchased shares worth Rs 123.63 crore last Friday, taking the total net investments during the last week to over Rs 1200 crore while Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) who were consistent net sellers picked up shares worth Rs 63.40 on May 20, a broker said.