Sensex snapshot

Buoyed by strong foreign institutional investment flows on the back of strong global cues, the sensex surged past the psychologically significant 18,000 mark on Wednesday — a level last seen in August 2011. In the process, the index also registered a 20% increase from the 52-week low it hit on December 20, which technically signals a bull market. Although investors in sensex companies are richer by about Rs 3 lakh crore since the December low, not all the traders shared the euphoria on the possibility of a sustained bull run. That is perhaps to do with the fact that no one was really expecting this rally. On a day when the index jumped nearly 2% to close at 18,202 points, three of the 30 sensex stocks — HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and TCS — climbed to their highest ever levels. The market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE soared to Rs 64.75 lakh crore or Rs 11.3 lakh crore higher compared with December levels. FIIs bought a net Rs 1,839 crore worth of stocks, which takes their total purchases to $4.56 billion so far in the year. Expectations of a rate cut by the RBI in the coming months acted as a positive trigger. The rally in Asian markets on hopes that Greece would be able to enact harsh austerity measures and comments from a top Chinese official that Beijing would continue to invest in Euro zone debt also boosted sentiments. The Nifty also continued with its uptrend, touching an intra-day high of 5,542 points. It ended the day at 5,532 points or 2.1% higher.