Reflecting the sentiment, the BSE Sensitive Index closed with a net gain of 50.03 points to 4194.55 points over its Friday close of 4144.52 points while the S&P CNX Nifty closed higher at 1197.85 points against its previous close of 1183.20 points -- a gain of 14.65 points. HLL, Reliance, SBI and L&T were some of the major gainers of the day.

The Sensex opened with a gap of 32.15 points at4176.67 points and during the day, breached the 4200-level to touch a high of 4215.35 points. The Nifty, on the other hand, opened marginally higher at 1183.65 points and touched a high of 1204.15 points during the day.

The fact that the Sensex crossed the psychological barrier of 4200-level is being viewed as a very good sign. ``4200 was the psychological barrier for the Sensex, and on Friday the index broke that level. Though it finally closed below that level, this is a good sign that it happened on a Friday, the last day of current account on BSE,'' said Rajiv Sampat at Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services.

The brokers are pinning hope on a quick solution to the Kargil problem. In case there is no negative news from the borders, the market is likely to remain firm on Monday also. ``I don't see any weakness in the market. In case the Kargil situation doesn't take any turn for the worse, on Monday we can expect the market to remain firm,'' adds Sampat. Some players even hope that a rally may emergeon Monday. ``I see the market going up by another 100-200 points in the next few trading sessions. And I'm also hopeful of the border crisis being resolved in the next 48 hours,'' says Neel B Dalal, a BSE broker.

However, some brokers were apprehensive about some redemption pressure that the UTI may face after it declared a less-than-expected 13.5 per cent dividend. In such a case, UTI may be forced to liquidate some of its key holdings, said a city-based broker.

Almost all the pivotals went up during the day on account of short covering by operators and buying by institutions. However, according to brokers, FII activity was laclustre except on the TVS Suzuki counter where a negotiated deal for 92,000 shares was reported. The TVS Suzuki scrip closed at Rs 494.

Some buying activity was also witnessed at the Ranbaxy counter on BSE. During the day, the scrip went up by Rs 13 to Rs 664 before closing at Rs 658 -- a net gain of Rs 3 aganist its previous close. The total volume in the counter was at 20.54lakh.

Indo Gulf Corporation was in the limelight again with the scrip going up by Rs 4 to Rs 53 from Rs 49 to hit the upper circuit on Friday. Other fertiliser stocks also showed moderate to good gains on BSE.

During the day, on the back of short covering, HLL gained Rs 24 to Rs 2424 where brokers expect an undha badla of around Rs 15. The L&T counter was also witnessed some short covering and the scrip, after touching a high of Rs 295, closed at Rs 293 against its Thursday close of Rs 284.

However, a minor correction at the NIIT counter took the scrip to close lower at Rs 2185 against its previous close of Rs 2195. On Thursday, the scrip was on the upper circuit and closed at the same level after the company decided to effect an accross the board hike of 13 to 16 per cent for its software training courses. Pentafour, on the other hand, with a gain of Rs 36 closed at Rs 1157. While Infosys was up by Rs 40 to 3690, Satyam was up marginally, by Rs 9, to Rs 1253.

SBI gained Rs 8 to close at Rs 253,Reliance gained around Rs 6 to close at Rs 180.80 and ITC was marginally down to Rs 1093 from Rs 1095 on Thursday.