The correction in the carry-forward charges coupled with the liquidation of a major chunk of long outstanding positions during the week ended April 30 provided enough scope for fresh purchases. Besides, focussed FII buying in heavy weight index stocks like ITC, HLL, ACC and Larsen triggered the rally above the crucial barrier of 4,122 points. ``The index move was accentuated by two pivotals, HLL and ITC which moved up strongly on the back of focussed FII buying,'' said an analyst with Kaji and Maulik Securities.

Sensex opened higher at 4058.75 points and crossed the psychological 4100 barrier, and touched day's high of 4141.33 before closing at 4135.81 points as against theprevious close of 4006.81 points. The BSE-100 index shot up by 58.86 points to 1819.82 from previous close of 1760.96.

On the National Stock Exchange, the NSE-50 index (Nifty) opened fractionally up at 1159.80 and gradually advanced further to close at 1185.15 against last weekend's close of 1159.35, netting a gain of 25.80 points. The Midcap index zoomed by 81.10 points to 1670.00 from last Thursday's close of 1588.90. The total volume of business was up by Rs 153.85 crore at Rs 1517.88 crore.

Brokers said the undertone was bullish and speculators had taken positions at relatively low levels. Foreign funds also provided support in select counters. The buying interest during the day was well spread among software and pharmaceutical sector stocks. As a result, most of these scrips exceeded the daily 10 per cent fluctuation limit and hit the circuit breaker. The 7-8 per cent price appreciation in ITC, HLL and ACC contributed to over 30 per cent of the rise in market indices. As per BSE's figures, HLL andITC contribute over 23 per cent weightage in Sensex. ITC touched a new 52-week high of Rs 811 on the BSE and Rs 809 on the NSE.

FIIs picked up shares of pharmaceutical and software companies, L&T, Tata Chemicals and others. Domestic financial institutions were selling in index-based scrips, particularly Hindustan Lever. ``But FIs could not puncture the bull rally,'' said a broker. According to market sources, rumours of regional parties expressing their views on joining hands with BJP provided strength to the rally which kicked off during the initial phase of the trading session.

MNC counters like Britannia, Wockhardt, and Glaxo continued to be frozen on the upper end of their price bands on local bourses. Anticipating excellent performance after a drought of almost 2 years, punters were active in the Indo Gulf counter. The stock was locked at Rs 41.75 on the upper end of the price band on the NSE even before the results were out.