During this period, the market witnessed cautious buying in several counters, particularly software. However, on Friday, operators jumped into action and bought heavily in these counters. Says a mutual fund source, "During the first four days of the week, there was cautious buying. But on Friday, being the last day of the settlement period, operators rushed into the counters as they did not want to miss out on the current opportunity."

"The sentiments in IT counters got a major fillip on Friday as CBI made a statement that none of the Bombay brokers seemed to be involved with Bharat Shah. Also, RBI is keen on a rate cut," the fund source says. The day also saw IT bigwigs like Wipro and HCL Tech follow Digital Equipment in announcing impressive resultsl.

SSI, which was trading at its 52-week low on Monday, shot up 34 per cent in five days to top the list of gainers. HCL Tech, which announced a 164 per cent jump in H1 net profit to Rs 214.5 crore, followed suit with over 22 per cent gain in its stock.

Visualsoft was the close third, which zoomed by over 21 per cent from Rs 671.55 on January 13 to Rs 814 on January 19. Market leader Infosys Tech was also in the thick of action, with the company deciding to set up the world's largest software development centre. The IT major gained almost 17 per cent from Rs 5,797.95 to Rs 6,778.9. The other major gainers include Polaris Software, Digital Equipments, Wipro, Hughes Software, Sonata Software and DSQ Software.

According to a marketmen, "Positive results from both Indian and US software majors have helped the current rally. Nevertheless, several IT counters have short positions which may further push up prices."

However, according to a fund analyst, it remains to be seen whether the rally will last for 2/3 days, which is essential to sustain the current trend. He goes on to add that Tuesday and Wednesday could see some profit-taking.