"A number of deals were reported above 35 per cent. In the past, such high rates have never been sustained and resulted in only stray deals," said a market participant.

A section of the market attributed the low level of financing to information technology IPOs currently in the market. "Given the kind of returns IT IPOs have given on listing, lot of funds have moved out and are currently locked in these IPOs. There are issues like Compucom, which closed only on Friday, and Hughes Software, which is currently open.

Players are investing heavily in theseissues to corner at least a chunk of shares, said a market player. "If you go by the records of the last three years, such high rates are a seasonal phenomenon in both March and September, considering yearly and half-yearly considerations. The money flows out of the system and there is shortage of funds," said BSE broker, Neel Dalal.

The badla rates were 22.5 per cent in the previous badla session on September 18. The net outstandings on the BSE were Rs 2682 crore, up by around Rs 180 crore from last week. The rise in net outstandings is partly attributed to the 140-point rise in Sensex during the week. The 30-share benchmark closed at 4758 points against previous week's close of 4618 points.

The current round of elections was also reasoned to have made an impact on badla rates. "There seems to be some big game going on. There have been rumours that some player has taken a big position on expectation that Saturday night's exit poll on Doordrashan will give 40 seats, of 74 seats that went to polls onSaturday, to the BJP-led combine. This will give a boost to equities on Monday, said another market player. According to market players, 25 minutes before the close of the badla session, deals were stuck between 39-41 per cent in selective counters including Ranbaxy,TVS Suzuki, United Phosphorous and Bajaj Auto.

"In the first hour of badla, rates were around 25 per cent but tehreafter rose steadily and hovered around 40 per cent at close. Most players were seen rushing to tie for funds," said a dealer. At the Zee Telefilms counter, there were deals in the band of 32-35 per cent. The scrip had flared up in Calcutta kerb on Friday to Rs 5,000 after an amicable deal between Zee and Star. There was undha-badla in Digital, Essel and Sterlite on account of book-closure.

The markets are likely to open higher on Monday and will be driven by expectations on election results due from october 4.

"The markets will open with a gap on Monday and players are unlikely to offload in a hurry. On Tuesday, we expect aspurt in volumes on NSE's three day cycle as shift in positions takes place," said a market player.

"Technically, the market is bound to go up. The undercurrent is bullish and you will see the Sensex hit 5100-level on Thursday," added Neel Dalal.