Monday, January 2 2006 12:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange Benchmark 30-share Index (Sensex) today (Jan 2, 2006) scaled a new peak at 9,457.09 during morning trading, indicating a firm bull grip on the market amid strong optimism that the benchmark will hit the 10,000 market before the Union Budget.

Starting on a strong footing at 9,422.49 against Friday's close of 9,397.93, the Sensex later rallied smartly to a new intra-day record high of 9,457.09 before being quoted at 9,438.54 at 10.30 a.m., up by 40.61 points over last close.

Operators and retail investors were seen making fresh commitments in early trade while institutional investors were expected to join the bandwagon at a latter stage of the session, brokers said.

The sentiment is very bullish and the market is likely to touch the important 10,000 level before the presentation of the Union Budget in February end, they added.

The market is well supported by robust growth in the country's economy as well as corporate earnings besides record Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) inflows during the 2005.

FII, which remained to be principal driving force behind the market, have pumped in nearly US$ two billion in December, the highest ever investment in any single month.

Key stocks like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), State Bank of India (SBI), Infosys Tech, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Lab,Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), ACC, Bharti Tele-Venture and HDFC were quoted remarkably higher on fresh buying support.