The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 118 points at 20,049. After slipping to a low of 20,019 in early trades, the index rallied to new highs as the day progressed.

The index zoomed to a new all-time high of 20,333, and finally settled with a smart gain of 360 points (1.8%) at a record close of 20,291.

The NSE Nifty zoomed to a record high of 6111 and ended with a gain of 136 points (2.2%) at 6097 - a new closing high.

The market breadth was positive - out of 2,914 stocks traded, 1,980 advanced, 896 declined and 38 were unchanged today.

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Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index fell for the first time in four days   after some investors judged the recent gains excessive. Mortgage lender   Housing Development Finance Corporation led the declines.

“Markets have rallied over the past few days, so investors are taking some   money off the table,” said RK Gupta, who manages $100 million of stocks at   Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex fell 35.32, or 0.2 per cent, to 19,930.68, after rising 2.2 per cent in the past three days. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange fell 13.70, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,960.60.

Telecommunications companies Bharti Airtel, the nation’s largest and most valuable wireless carrier, and Idea Cellular climbed on expectations a venture to share transmission towers with Vodafone Group Plc’s local unit will help them cut expansion costs in a market where local mobile call rates are between 1 and 2 US cents a minute.

State-run refining and oil marketing companies, which retail gasoline and diesel below cost, rose on expectations the government may increase prices of fuel in line with global crude oil rates.

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Chances are, if you’re a young person or perhaps even a young couple, one   aspect of life you’ve probably never really given consideration to is insurance.   Other then car insurance when someone turns 16, insurance is one of those   things you rarely hear discussed in a family conversation. The subject of   insurance is usually not something taught in school [unless you are taking a   driving class] and it is never a topic of conversation among young adults at the   local watering hole. Yet insurance is a valuable commodity to understand and   purchase when you’re first starting out in life.

If you move away from home and start living in an apartment, you’ve probably never given any thought to ensuring all of the valuable possession you begin to accumulate. Most young people never think about insurance that will cover some kind of loss resulting from a fire or you break in, for example. And few people ever start thinking about life insurance when their life is only just beginning.

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The elusive close above the crucial 20,000-mark for the Sensex appears stronger than ever this week on an expected quarter-point rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday, which is likely to trigger a rally in banking, IT and real-estate stocks on Indian markets.

Revision in 100-odd futures and options (F&Os) stocks from December 28 series, announced by the NSE after Friday close, will also boost sentiment in these counters this week, well ahead of the new series, said analysts.

The Sensex crossed the 20,000-mark at lease on two days last week, but it could not close above this psychologically important milestone as profit booking set in, said analysts. The Sensex first crossed the 20,000-mark on October 29, but is has never ended above this mark since.

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DID Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet think about insurance
when they swapped homes in the film The Holiday? It’s unlikely, but it is a thought   that should concern anyone following suit this Christmas. The same principle applies   to another more common scenario: a couple move in together, and decide to let their   other property. But people often forget to make sure that their property is adequately insured, paying premiums on a policy that is effectively useless.

“Many landlords make the mistake of thinking that they are covered by their buildings insurance for letting the property to tenants,” says James Harrison, the chief executive of Insurancewide.com, the insurance comparison website. “The reality is that a standard home insurance policy will exclude cover for any property from which revenue is earned; even for renting out one room you must have a specific landlord’s insurance policy.”

Landlord or buy-to-let insurance policies remain a relatively niche sector of the home insurance market: do not make the mistake of simply taking the cover on offer from your mortgage lender. Shopping around is essential to get the best terms. And remember that as with mortgage interest payments, insurance costs can be offset against tax when you fill in your self-assessment form.

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Indian shares rose more than one per cent yesterday to their highest close in two weeks,   led by Reliance Industries and Reliance Communications, with expectations of a US   interest rate cut helping sentiment.

Power producer Reliance Energy jumped 9.3 per cent after it said it would raise Rs80   billion ($2 billion) by selling shares to its founders and institutional shareholders at 4.3   per cent above their Friday close.

The BSE 30-share index or Sensex ended 1.24 per cent, or 240.22 points, higher at 19,603.41, with 24 of the components rising.

The benchmark index gained 2.7 per cent in the last week of November, but fell 2.4 per cent in the month with foreign funds pulling out $1.5 billion after pouring in $7 billion between mid-September and the end of October.

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