The Indian stock market has reached an all-time high. On Friday Dec. 9, 2005, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark (BSE) 30-share Sensex index closed above 9,000 points for the first time. It touched a new record level of 9,081 before closing at 9,067 on Dec. 9. Though it had tested the 9,000 mark in the last week of November, it couldn't stay above that at the close of trading that day. The benchmark index has gone up for six weeks in a row to reach these levels gaining approximately 1,400 points during the period.

The Sensex gained 216, 202, 72 and 106 points in the following weeks to reach the current record level of 9,067. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers, after being net sellers of $800 million worth of shares in October.

The sentiments in the market are buoyant due to the strong macroeconomic signals as the mid-year Economic Review by the finance ministry has estimated the GDP growth rate of India at 8.1% in the first half of the fiscal year 2005-06. The mid-year review forecasts greater than 7% growth for the whole year