Tuesday, August 8 2006 19:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: India's key stock market index today (Aug 8, 2006) climbed above the 11,000 points level for the first time since May 18, this year, with the support of banking and IT scrips, besides blue-chip Reliance Industries.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened strong at 10,839.53 and ended the day at 11,014.97, up by a whopping 202.33 points from the previous close, as operators bought heavily expecting foreign funds to enlarge their commitments on hopes that the US Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates today.

Banking and refinery counters attracted good buying support led by ICICI Bank and RIL, respectively.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) picked up shares worth Rs 122.91 crore on Monday as per provisional figures while pulling out Rs 449.59 crore in derivatives segment. Domestic mutual funds, however, injected Rs 248.78 crore on August three and four.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty also flared up by 61.30 points or 1.95 per cent to end at 3,212.40 from previous close of 3,151.10.

"Though the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index landed in negative terrain yesterday, most of the Asian markets ended with gains, mainly influencing the local market," dealers said.