Pranab buoyed as Sensex spurts to new high

On a day when the benchmark Sensex crossed 20,000 points after over two and a half years, the North Block sounded evidently pleased at the new market milestone. While finance minister Pranab Mukhrjee said he is ''happy'' about it, secretary Ashok Chawla said the rise in Sensex shows the confidence of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the India growth story.

''I am happy about it. We all know that the Sensex is always a little bit unpredictable. (But) I am happy that for the first time after January 2008, it has crossed 20,000," Mukherjee said in New Delhi. The minister was replying to reporters' query about his views on the stock market benchmark's new milestone.

After opening at 20,011.66, Sensex slipped below 20,000 points during the day on profit-booking. The index closed the day at 20001.55, a gain of 95.45 points or 0.48 per cent. The Sensex doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 points in 369 days since 26 March 2009.

The first time Sensex closed above the 20,000 level was on 11 December 2007 and the last before Tuesday was on 15 January 2008. Before this the  Sensex had closed above this mark in 19 trading sessions, making Tuesday's closing the 20th time.

''It is an expression of confidence in the India growth story by FIIs,'' finance secretary Ashok Chawla said. He was responding to requests from reporters for his comments on the stock market buoyancy.

Analysts attribute the buoyancy to large FIIs inflows in the Indian share market. The domestic stock market started tumbling in 2008 as the global meltdown engulfed the economy in latter parts of that year and early 2009.