Dalal Street continued its dream run on Monday but failed to hit the 8,000 level after getting as close as 7,983.Even as marketmen waited for the benchmark Sensex to hit the psychological level, the market cooled off on selling pressure. The BSE Sensex even then gained 25.47 points or 0.3 per cent to close at an all-time closing high of 7,925.24. The Sensex came sharply off the 7,965-7,970 level that it had hovered around in mid-afternoon trade. The barometer index moved 81.98 points for the day between a low of 7,901.35 and a high of 7,983.33.The S&P CNX Nifty gained 7.15 points or 3 per cent to an all-time closing high of 2,422.95.Though market breadth was positive, it weakened substantially towards the latter part of trading when the Sensex pared gains. A pick up in FII inflow and sustained buying from local mutual funds, which are flush with funds, triggered a rebound on the bourses in the past few days. In the past five trading sessions, the Sensex has gained 290.81 points or 3.8 per cent from a recent low of 7,634.43 on August 29.Investors are now awaiting the extent of the hike in retail price of petrol and diesel. The government is expected to raise fuel prices this week. The government has raised prices by only about 7 per cent this year, while crude oil has soared more than 60 per cent.Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Hindalco and ITC surged. In contrast, FMCG major Hindustan Lever, Bajaj Auto and Tata Power lost ground. Auto ancillary and diamond firms were in demand. Newly listed HT Media witnessed a sell-off, and the stock fell below the IPO price of Rs 530. After surging in early trade, shares of another newspaper publication firm Deccan Chronicle Holdings witnessed a sell-off later in the day even as it revised upwards its net profit and revenue forecast for FY 2006.Software major TCS did a total reversal in late trading. The stock lost 1.4 per cent to Rs 1,408.90. Earlier, the stock was hovering firm with a gain of over 1 per cent at Rs 1,450 in the afternoon trade.
