The Hindu Business Line : Sensex breaches 8,000-level — Nifty gains 25 points to close at 2,454

FLUSH with foreign institutional investors' funds, the BSE Sensex created history and breezed past the 8,000-level mark on Thursday. The momentum in the bourses, especially over the last three months, has rendered records and `all-time highs' largely irrelevant, but the crossing of the psychological barrier of 8,000 by the Sensex is seen as a major milepost by market participants.

After taking a mid-week breather on Wednesday, when the bourses were closed on account of Ganesh Chaturthi, the markets raced to their all-time highs shortly after the opening bell on Thursday.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 8060.26, and closed trade at 8052.56, up by 105.78 points from Tuesday's close. The Nifty also chartered unfamiliar territory, touching a high of 2,456.90, before closing at 2,454.45.

It is now a much-recorded fact that the buoyancy in the market is primarily due to the FIIs; and increasingly expectations of a correction are fading.

"Markets are looking rock-solid now. It is awash with liquidity; and usually market momentum begets momentum. Though we are all expecting a correction that has not arrived, market is not displaying any weakness," said Mr Ramesh Damani, member of BSE.

Even at the 8,000-plus level, market experts are comfortable with valuations, especially in large-cap stocks.

"What worries me is the interest in certain small and mid-cap stocks and retail investors' investments in penny stocks.

"Among the large-cap stocks, valuations are still at 15-16 times the price earnings, which is quite comfortable," said Mr S.V. Prasad, CEO, Birla Sun Life MF. However, it is also understood that several brokers have now cautioned their investors to book partial profits and sit on cash.

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