Several factors have helped the recovery in the market (Sensex had fallen by over 800 points in the last one month). Firstly, the selling pressure from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) has subsided. On the contrary, they have started investing in GDR-related shares and multinational shares.

This bucked up the spirit of domestic speculators and institutions. Adding to the bullish sentiment, the political uncertainty which had affected the market last week has disappeared with the BJP government apparently ``safe'' for now.

Moreover, many pivotals are in no-delivery period which will end mid-July. Investors are building long positions in these pivotals, leading to an upsurge in the index. During theno-delivery period, traders will get almost one month to speculate as no share transfer will be allowed by companies.

Sensex moved up to register a net gain of 86.10 points to close at 3,331.98 against Wednesday's close of 3,245.88. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange also registered a gain of 16.90 points to close at 961.05 against a previous close. ``The market continued to be firm and has been gaining momentum as the sentiment has been firming up,'' said a BSE broker.

Rumours of the BJP government signing the CTBT .in a few days coupled with expectations of impressive first quarter results to be posted by corporates boosted the sentiment further.

Significantly, no negative news has come across from any of the segments. ``The rupee is somewhat steady. World Bank has approved some loans thereby diluting the effect of sanctions. The political storm created by the AIADMK has blown over for the time being. Asian stock markets and currencies are steady,'' said an NSE dealer.

The paymentcrisis triggered by the brokers of Harshad Mehta has also been settled. ``It has been a long time since big volumes were witnessed across the board. The true position will be visible on Friday if the bull run tapers off,'' said a broker.