Another highlight of the day was the concerted buying in several side counters which saw as many as 40 stocks hit the upper end of the circuit filter. This, brokers pointed out, meant that the rally was beginning to get broad-based with several B-group stocks notching up fresh gains with high volumes. Rumours of a imminent withdrawal of Pak troops in the next 72 hours saw only buyers across the market towards close.

``While HLL fell around Rs 55, ITC lost Rs 18. But for these stocks, theSensex would have crossed the 4400-level,'' said a dealer with a domestic brokerage house. ``The market has closed above the technically crucial level of 4355 and it augurs well for the bourses. The market will now fall only because of Kargil. Otherwise, it should open higher with a 60-70 point gap on Monday,'' pointed out Alok Churiwala of Churiwala Securities.

Friday being the last day of settlement on the Bombay Stock Exchange, there was also some short-covering coupled with FII purchases at index-based counters, which lifted the Sensex.

``It is being observed that two classes of investors have emerged - FIIs and the other lot. Stocks like Telco, Hindalco, L&T, ACC and others are scaling new highs on FII purchases. Other side stocks are now being accumulated by operators who have moved away from pivotlas,'' said Chetan Shah, VP Shailesh Merchant & Brokers. Added Malay Sameer, AVP, Apple Financial Securities:
``The index has strongly consolidated. The indicators are pointing to a a strong upsurge inthe short term. The volumes are up coupled with good amount of FII buying which indicates a strong market in the coming week. The relative strength indicator is also indicating continued uptrend and the index should test a level of 4,450 next week.''

Market participants point out that a large number of cyclical stocks hitting the upper circuit happened after a very long time, which hitherto was dominated by pharma, FMCG and IT stocks. Stocks like Hindustan Zinc, Grasim and Indal saw record volumes. Excel Industries hit the upper circuit on rumours of a bonus while Colgate gained 8 per cent on expectations of healthy Q1 results. All the fertiliser stocks were also up. Some of the stocks which hit the upper end of the circuit were Sesa Goa, Century Textiles, Kesoram, MICO, Nocil, P&G, Crompton Greaves, GIPCO, Escorts and Hindustan Power Plus.