"Share prices forged ahead in the market today because of sustained bull support and short covering by market players to square up their positions on the last day of the current settlement. The market was guided by ITC, some gains on Thursday plussupport from FIIs", said Dilip Bhat, a BSE member. "Market is in for a narrow rally of 75-100 points", he added.

"Market is close to bottoming out and there is no immediate substantial upside and may see a rally of 200 points'', said Shyam Bhatof Tata AMC. "The market is, technically, showing a rebound at these levels in the medium term. We see the market to go up to 3,250-3,300 levels before reacting again on profit booking", said Prashant Sethi, fund manager at IDBI MF. The changes brought about in the Nifty have woken up many a investors to the potential of pivotals like MTNL, Tisco, BSES and others. Foreign funds made moderate to heavy purchases on pivotals like MTNL, Bhel, M&M. Two FIIs were reported to be buying heavily in Castrol in wake of the long awaited bonus issue slated for next January and also improved third quarter results. Oppenhiemer was reportedly selling Pentafour Soft. GMO Trust Fund is reportedly buying HCL-Infosys. The foreign funds of Alliance Cap and Birla MF were reported to havebought Wyeth Labs.