At 10:34 IST the Sensex was up 141 points, on 12,679.

The market has witnessed a steady and sustained rise since late July. From 10,085.91 on 21 July, it has risen 2,593 points (25.7%), to current 12,679.

The market has hit a record high just at the onset of the earnings reporting season. Earnings have been a key driver of the bull run on the bourses that began in 2003. Lower oil price has eased inflation and interest rate worries, boosting the bourses. Crude price at current $58.25, is sharply off a record high of $78 a barrel hit in mid-July 2006.

Corporate India is all set to report another strong quarter in Q2 September 2006, according to a report released early this month by Merrill Lynch. `We continue to believe that the consensus earnings estimates will see major upgrades following strong Q2 results’, another brokerage Brics Securities notes in its Q2 earnings preview. It expects the Sensex to scale 13,300 by the year-end.

It has been a sweet beginning to the earnings season as IT bellwether Infosys announced robust Q2 numbers on Wednesday while revising upwards FY 2007 (year ending 31 March 2007) earnings and revenue guidance.

A section of the market attributes the strong performance of the Indian bourses since late July 2006, to long-term Indian growth drivers such as a favourable demography (large share of young population), robust domestic consumption and acceleration in infrastructure creation. Late last week, Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh promised a complete policy on infrastructure, including regulatory and institutional framework, to make it attractive for private participation in the near future.

Meanwhile, a large mop up from IPOs is expected in the next few months. Cairn India on Thursday said it will raise $2 billion from IPO sometime in December 2006. Another mega IPO in the pipeline is that of real estate major DLF.