Sensex scales 16K level in 52 trading sessions

The Bombay Stock Exchange hit a new milestone with its benchmark Sensex crossing the 16,000-point mark on Wednesday, taking 52 trading sessions to reach the current level from 15,000 hit on July 6.

At 3 pm, the 30-share BSE index rose to 16,312.93 points, gaining 643.81 points as investors stepped up buying, encouraged by US Federal Reserve's decision to cut the benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points.

Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty on the NSE gained 185.35 points to 4,731.55.
The Sensex traded above 15,000 points for 41 trading sessions as the index fell below the level on account of subprime mortgage crisis in the US that caused meltdown in the global bourses.
The journey from 14,000 to 15,000 level had taken more than 140 trading sessions, the longest 1,000-point march since the Sensex touched the five-figure mark of 10,000 in February last year.

The 15,000-level was reached on July 6 driven by strong inflows from FIIs, robust economic growth and impressive corporate earnings.

In terms of sessions spent in taking each 1,000-point stride, the index took 143 days from 14k to 15k, 26 days from 13k to 14k, 132 days from 12k to 13k, 19 days from 11k to 12k, 33 days for 10k to 11k, 48 days from 9k to 10k, 54 days from 8k to 9k, 55 d ays from 7k to 8k, and as many as 1,124 sessions for 6k to 7k.

Sensex milestones:

Following is the list of dates when BSE Sensex touched the various milestones on its journey to 16,000-point mark:

Points Date

1000 July 25, 1990

2000 January 3, 1992

3000 February 29, 1992

4000 March 30, 1992

5000 October 8, 1999

6000 February 11, 2000

7000 June 20, 2005

8000 September 8, 2005

9000 November 28, 2005

10000 February 6, 2006

11000 March 21, 2006

12000 April 20, 2006

13000 October 30, 2006

14000 December 5, 2006

15000 July 6, 2007

16000 September 19, 2007