What revived the sagging mood was a rejuvenating speech delivered by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the CII meet. The Prime Minister reassured industrialists that the care-taker government will ensure economic growth. Reflecting the change in sentiment, the 30-share Sensex bounced back from the day's low of 3,183 points to close at 3,272.71 registering a net gain of 27.44 points. According to brokers, the renewed buying was triggered by fresh enquiries placed by leading FII fund managers.

"After a lot of despair we saw a major turnaround as institutions marched in to buy at these levels. Bears cannot carry on further, though we are still not back in the bullish phase,'' said Hiren Ved of Alchemy Investment Advisors.

Marketwas agog with rumours that leading FII brokerage houses namely Jardine Fleming, Morgan Broking and DSP Merill Lynch have once again picked up huge chunks of several pivotals. Interestingly, on April 26 the FIIs were reportedly buyers to the tune of Rs 38 crore on the Indian bourses. FIIs were rumoured to have bought at the counters of Zee Telefilms, MTNL, ACC, NIIT, Satyam, Pentafour and Digital on Wednesday. "Market will have some technical rally but continues to look weak. The upside is also limited. The token buying has prompted this technical correction. We should see a major floor emerging at 3,200 levels.

However, the index could test 3,000 levels also," said Saumil Trivedi of Dilvikas Finance. "There are two key factors which will influence the market sentiments, one the date of the elections and the second, which is even more important, is the monsoon factor," he added. Excellent performance of several leading corporates played an influential role in breaking the bearish consensus at the markets.Results announced by Pentafour Software, ACC, Gujarat Ambuja and Cochin Refineries provided a fresh re-entry level for institutional players.

While the announcement of the results saw ACC move up from Rs 1,353 to touch the day's high of Rs 1,407, Pentafour Softwares rebounced from Rs 890 to close at Rs 978.50 registering phenomenal volumes of over 59 lakh shares on the local bourses. Similarly, Cipla also rebounced from Rs 1,300 to close at the day's high of Rs 1,410 after the company announced robust results.

While ICICI had announced its results on April 26 after the closure of the trading session, the impact of the FIs performance was realised today. The stock was locked at the upper band of the price filter at Rs 47.30 on the BSE. The dividend payout of 55 per cent announced by the FI has attracted many small investors at the counter said brokers in the light of the demat regime where shares need not be sent for transfer to avail of the benefit.

PSU stocks like BPCL, HPCL, MNTL, and VSNL attractedrenewed institutional purchases at the lower levels. These stocks were locked at the upper limit of the price bands on the BSE. Pharma and FMCG stocks, however, failed to contribute to the recovery in the market indices. Stocks like Glaxo, Wockhardt, FDC, Hoechst Marrion, Indian Shaving and Marico took a severe beating at the bourses today. An interesting feature of the day was the volatility witnessed at the counters of Burroughs Welcome and Ranbaxy Labs.

"Technically the market was in a healthy zone. Considering the fact that the unwinding was almost complete on Monday and the market was ready for a switch over, FII buying helped the market rebound. The election factor is more or less discounted and the downside seems to be limited to 3,150 or next low could be 3000 levels," said BSE broker Jayesh Sheth.