Thursday, August 11 2005 17:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Notching up yet another sharp 86.69 points, the Sensex today (Aug 11, 2005) crossed the 7800 mark for the first time at the close to log a new high of 7816.51 on the stock exchange following heavy FII buying and short-covering by retail operators.

Despite surging oil prices at over $65 a barrel, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) kept up their buying tempo and drove the benchmark to fresh closing peaks with sentiments distinctly positive for more gains, dealers said.

With today's gain, the Sensex had displayed a handsome rise of 220.94 points or 2.91 per cent in the last two days.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened firm at 7749.01 as against yesterday's close of 7729.82 and later rallied to the day's high of 7842.55, a shade lower than the all-time intra-day high of 7843.77 recorded on August 3, before ending at 7816.51, showing a smart gain of 1.12 pct over the last close.

The previous all-time closing high for the Sensex was 7797.08 hit on August 4.

The sentiment was also bolstered by reports that a number of companies have surpassed the net profit for the whole of last year in just three months of the current fiscal.

Buying spree was so strong that rising overseas crude oil prices, which hit a record high of $65.30 per barrel during early trade failed to dampen the market sentiment.

Another encouraging factor was firm Asian advices as Nikkei firmed up by 165.24 points, Hang Seng by 98.79 points and Kospi by 18.91 points.