However, market players were catious. According to Chirag Sanghvi at Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediaries, we are expecting FII selling to come in once we are near the 4650 level. ``So for me the top from the present level is just 50 points. Equally, the downside is also limted to 4350 level.''Boosted by the positive FII figures over the last few days, on Friday, the last day of the current settlement on the BSE, the Sensex gained 112.47 points to close a notch lower than the 4600-mark.

Infotech stocks continued their upward march. Taking the lead from Nasdaq's recording breaking 3000-plus level on Thursday, the software stocks, on Friday, were in the limelight from the word go. Also the cement stocks and the commodities chiiped in good support to the overall market sentiment.

The Sensex opened at the day's low of 4501.27, a marginal 17 points higher that its previous close and gained steadily to touch the day's high of 4608.42 but closed a shade lower at 4598.45. And it was mostly investment buying which was seen on the last day of the current account on the BSE.Short covering, running in tandem with delivery-based buying was one of the main reasons for the market's upswing. ``Players who had short sold earlier during the week, had to cover their positions as the Sensex maintained its steady rise on Friday, despite it being the last day of the current account on the BSE,'' said Ambareesh Baliga at Kotak Securities.

``Next week, we expect buying interest to be limited to specific counters only,'' said Rajiv Sampat at Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services.Arun Kejriwal of Woodstock Securities feels that many market participants wanted to get rid of their potential loss-making positions before the end of the Samavat. This sense of urgency was one of the main reasons for the sharp fall witnessed last week. ``Though the mood is cautious, with a third of FII outflow back in the market, we are entering Diwali with a buoyancy.''

Infosys, ITC, HLL, and Ranbaxy were the main contributors to the Sensex spurt on Friday. Infosys improved by more than five per cent. While HLL was also up by 2.18 per cent, ITC gained over five per cent. Reliance, Ranbaxy, and L&T too showed impressive gains.

Overall, while 957 stocks showed a positive close, 747 closed lower. Around 166 stocks remained unchanged. At Rs 2564 crore, trading volumes showed a jump of over 25 per cent over its previous day's figure of Rs 1899 crore. However, software counters were the centre of attraction. Satyam showed impressive gains. Pentafour was at the upper circuit. So was Silverline, SSI and Digital Equipment. Other software stocks like Aftek Infosys, VJIL, Advent Computers, Maars Software, RS Software, Cybertech, Twinstar Soft, and Solstar also hit the upper circuit.

The cement sector also managed to attract huge buying interest. ACC and L&T were the first to hit the upper circuit. The buying then spread to counters like Kesoram, Century, and India Cements. Telco and Tata Tea also witnessed hective buying.