Mumbai, March 30: The sensex today continued its bull run, fuelled by hectic purchases and a slew of block deals on Dalal Street. Moreover, the auspicious occasions of Ugadi and Gudi Padwa seemed to increase investors’ appetite for stocks. As a result, the 30-share BSE sensex breached the 11300-mark to close at a new peak of 11307.04.

Heavy buying by foreign institutional investors (FII) amid expectations of strong corporate earnings for the fourth quarter spurred the benchmark index to new highs, overriding concerns about high valuations. India now tops the list of emerging countries in drawing FII money.

Brokers cheered as the jump came on the last session of derivative contracts. The undercurrent is still strong and this is evident from the rollover figures of more than 74 per cent, brokers said.

The sensex today opened firm at 11241.78 and crossed the 11300-mark to scale an intra-day peak of 11338.66 before ending the day at 11307.04 against yesterday’s 11183.48, a rise of 123.56 points or 1.1 per cent. The sensex has risen by 466.45 points or 4.31 per cent in the last five trading sessions.

Today’s trading was also marked by a large number of block deals. Besides Reliance Industries Ltd, which is in the midst of inter-se transfer of shares among promoter companies, Essar Shipping witnessed a similar deal. Essar Holding Ltd, a group holding company, bought 2.10 crore shares of Essar Shipping from Essar Investments Ltd at Rs 32.50 apiece.

On the NSE, Shriram City Union Finance saw an inter-se transfer of shares when Shriram Enterprise Holdings bought 24 lakh shares from Shriram Financial Services Holdings. Aberdeen, a leading foreign equity investor, was also active as Aberdeen Global bought shares of GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Grasim Industries, Hero Honda Motors and GAIL from other entities in its group.

FIIs and local mutual funds not only flocked to bluechip counters but also bought heavily in some mid-cap shares. Bata India, for instance, scored handsome gains after the company came back into the black.

Buying was also seen in infotech, metal and pharmaceutical counters. Among infotech companies, TCS and Wipro ended in the positive territory.

The metal pack saw SAIL, Hindalco and Hindustan Zinc recording sizeable gains. Investors have been buying shares of these companies on reports of a possible hike in prices. In pharmaceuticals, Ranbaxy Laboratories stole the show as the company announced yet another acquisition. The scrip gained by Rs 40.80 to finish at Rs 451.95.