Badla rates opened at around 16 per cent and some deals were reported at as high as 25 per cent. The last time badla rates had gone beyond the 20 per cent mark was in the post-budget period. Brokers point out that the sharp rise in badla rates indicates a very bullish trend on the bourses. "The net long positions have gone up by around Rs 200 crore over last week. Despite the correction for two consecutive trading sessions, investors are still willing to carry-forward their positions which shows the inherent strength in the market," said a broker.

Marketmen are also enthused that FIIs are continuing to make fresh investments in local bourses. Though a correction set in on Thursday, FIIs were net buyers of over Rs 89 crore. "FIIs are buying at lower levels andany drop in price gives an opportunity for fresh purchases," said a dealer with a local brokerage.

"The trend is definitely bullish and the markets should open firm on Monday. A number of operators, who hammered scrips on Thursday and Friday on the National Stock Exchange, are likely to cover their positions on Monday which will further boost the markets," said a broker.

With the Infosys ADR shooting past the $100-level to close at $110.75 at Nasdaq, marketmen expect a rally on the Infosys counter on Monday. "We may see Infosys on the upper circuit in the morning session itself," said a dealer. "There are also some pending FII orders in counters of Digital Equipment and MTNL," he added.

The Telco scrip attracted high backwardisation charges of Rs 22 due to a heavy short position at the counter. Undha badla was around Rs 3 at the counter on the lower end. Other scrips which attracted undha badla were BHEL, Larsen and Toubro, Asian Paints and Tata Tea (on account of book closure).

Infosys ADR clocksrecord volumes

Infy clocked the highest volume since listing in March this year when 4.43 lakh ADRs were traded on July 16 at Nasdaq. Infosys Technology had offered a little over 22 lakh ADRs during the $75-million initial offer, priced at $34 per ADR.

Hence, over 20 per cent of the total ADR float was traded on Friday. The dream run on the Infy counter continued with the ADR rallying to an intra-day high of $121.875 before closing at $110.75. The ADR still closed $12.75 higher from its Thursday's close of $98.

While the ADR has more than trebled from the offer price, an investor in the initial offer has seen his investments grow by 225 per cent in four months. Two ADRs make one share. At the closing price of $110.75, the ADRs translate into a value of Rs 9580 per share. The domestic share had closed at Rs 5,110 on the BSE on Friday and trails the ADR by 47 per cent.