The 13-K mark is up. Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange gathered renewed confidence and zoomed to touch the much anticipated 13000 mark, With blue chips Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and others leading from the front, the BSE 30-stock index rose 0.8 percent to reach 13,012.49 points. The market's previous all-time high had been recorded at 12,994.45 points on October 17.

With this performance, the Sensex has risen nearly 38.5 percent so far this year. It had gained 42 percent in 2005 as foreign investors continued to invest in the country’s economic growth scenario.

Monday saw Reliance Industries gaining Rs 1,232 , a rise of 0.7 percent, while Bharti gained Rs 539, up 2.2 percent. The Sensex is predicted to hold onto these levels with companies posting strong results during the current earnings season.

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 18 points at 12,925, but dropped to a low of 12,845 in early morning deals. But during late morning deals, buying began enabling the Sensex zoon to touch the 13,000 mark. By afternoon, the index rose to a new all-time high of 13,039, posting an intra-day gain of 194 points. The Sensex finally closed with a gain of 117 points at 13,024. Of the 2,597 scrips traded on Monday, 1,406 declined, 1,134 advanced and 57 stayed put.

While ICICI Bank rose by 3.6 percent to Rs 785, HDFC Bank moved up 2.7 percent to Rs 1,025. However, SBI saw only a marginal gain of Rs 2 at Rs 1,095. Dr. Reddy's was firm right through the session, and closed with a gain of nearly 3 per cent at Rs 751. Bharti gained 2.8 percent to Rs 542 and Reliance Communications gained 2 percent to Rs 393.