Will the feel-good factor and the fundamentally strong economy help sustain the bull runIt had never been so good for the Indian stock market as the sensex, the benchmark index, gained a huge 2900 points in 2003. From the low of 2924 touched on April 25, 2003, the sensex climbed to 5838.96. The sensex, in fact, even went on to hit the magical mark of 6000 on January 2, 2004 (The sensex had crossed 6000 mark for the first time in its history when it hit an all time high of 6150 on February 14, 2000), thanks to the increased support from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) who poured in a record $7.5 bn in 2003 and has pumped in $2.7 bn so far in 2004.

However, of late, the market seems to be losing out some momentum as the benchmark index keeps swinging between the 5500-6000 mark. And, volatility is the order of the day. What is there in the store? A major reason being attributed to the current volatility in the market, according to experts, is a deluge of big-ticket PSU IPOs in recent times, which included GAIL, IBP, and the mega issue of ONGC, which mopped up about Rs.10,000 cr from the market; though a section of the market analysts do not agree with this view. Nonetheless there could be a wait-and-watch policy on part of the investors as the primary market is expecting further activities with a slew of big companies like TCS, ICICI, and NDTV waiting in the wings. What would this mean for the market as a whole.