Sensex (BSE sensitive index) opened firm at 4143.64 and gradually moved to the day's high of 4214.85 before closing at the year's high of 4210.36 (the earlier high was 4197.08 on May 20, 1999) with a sizeable gain of 100.47 points against last Friday's close of 4109.89. The BSE-100 index also spurted by 45.79 points to 1805.52 from previous close of 1759.73.

Other stock exchanges also witnessed share rallies. The S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange(NSE) crossed the 1200 level and touched the 52-week high of 1203.35 points before closing at 1202.30 points with a gain of 27.15 points (2.31 per cent) over its previous close of 1175.15 points.

Brokers attributed the sharp upsurge to the decision of G-8 leaders to condemn the breach of line of control (LOC) in Kashmir and their call for an immediate end to fighting on the Indo-Pak border. Operators were optimistic of an early end to the Indo-Pak conflict because of increasing international pressure on Pakistan to withdraw its troops from the Kargil sector where the Indian army is engaged in flushing out the intruders for the past six weeks.

FIIs reportedly bought stocks like Indian Rayon, Tisco, Reliance and others besides software shares. Indian financial institutions too picked up shares of low-priced scrips. Software stocks attracted fresh attention after remaining weak for quite some time. Of the total 149 specified scrips, 133 advanced while 13 only declined and three remained steady. Moreover, 20cyclical stocks including Infosys Technologies hit the upper circuit filter after exhausting the daily limit.

Satyam Computer clocked the highest turnover of Rs 169.94 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 1470.57 crore and the scrip flared up by Rs 83 to Rs 1233 on brisk buying. Reliance spurted by Rs 5.70 to Rs 188.50, Pentafour Software by Rs 53 to Rs 993, ITC by Rs 28.90 to Rs 1096.90, SBI by Rs 5.65 to Rs 262.90, Telco by Rs 12.95 to Rs 210 and Tisco by Rs 4.35 to Rs 150.35. However, Hindustan Lever eased by Rs 3 to Rs 2406.

``It is not that the market has suddenly gone bullish on software stocks. Neither is it that the software stocks have suddenly become attractive. Going by the fundamentals, infotech stocks were always attractive, but the recent euphoria about cyclicals had driven them out of favour for sometime. At their present levels, cyclicals are expensive and going by the fundamentals, the infotech stocks are attractive. Combined with this, the market has got the trigger to go bullishon software scrips that it was waiting for," said an analyst.

If the situation in Kargil continues in favour of India, marketmen don't rule out the possibility of Sensex even touching the 4,500 level in the next a few days.