Sensex, Nifty at historic peaks

The US Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates provided impetus to the stock markets which saw them kissing historic peaks during the week.

Key index, Sensex, hit the 16,000 mark while Nifty soared to cross the 4,000-level respectively.

Both the indices registered their biggest ever weekly gains in absolute terms and the Sensex completed its five-week winning streak with a sharp gain of 2,422.21 points or 17.13%.

The 30-share barometer, BSE, showed a weak trend at opening but recovered from Tuesday on the back of expectations of US interest cut.

The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday night slashed key lending rates by a surprise 0.50% and discount rate by 0.50% to ease concerns of the world's biggest economy slipping into recession on account of sub prime woes, giving a major boost to the emerging markets like India and China.

As a result, the Sensex spurted to a new life-time intra-trade peak of 16,616.84, before concluding the week at 16,564.23, a record rise of 960.43 points or 6.16 % over the last weekend's close of 15,603.81.

Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also flared up to a new all-time intra-day peak of 4,855.70 before ending the week at 4,837.55 from preceding weekend's close of 4,518.00, a steep rise of 319.55 points or 7.07 %.