The market opened with the Sensex at 3111, with a jump of 16 points over the previous close. It posted a modest gain to post a high of 3136 for the day. This was an improvement of almost one per cent or 32 points over the previous high of 3104. More than the quantum of rise the breadth of the market sends an important message.

At the BSE the number of scrips in advance moved up impressively from 535 to 676; those in decline went down steeply from 608 to 485. The NSE posted even more impressive figures. The number of advances moved up from 442 to 667 and those in decline wentdown from 601 steeply to 291!

In other words the bull fervous is now widespread. This would help towards a healthy consolidation of the market, which in turn would give more confidence to investors to take a stake in the market.

The volume in advance at BSE went up from Rs 1059.54 crore to Rs 1086.72 crore; that in decline went down from Rs 255.30 crore to Rs 127.92 crore. At the NSE the volume in advance moved up from Rs 1038.23 crore to Rs 1069.17 crore; that in decline went down from Rs 378.51 crore to Rs 270.85 crore.

HLL could post only a modest rise of 0.6 per cent further, but SBI warmed up further to register a 2.73 per cent gain. That a healthy sentiment is prevailing is reflected by Glaxo halting its downslide, Arvind Mills holding on, ACC resisting further fall and BHEL striding up with volume, amongst others.

You should now act on the belief that the market would continue to move up. For conservatives I still advise profit booking as you go along. Bank of Baroda and Bharat Petro appear allset to move up. The reaction in Bharat Petro seems to be over.