The Sensex journey: From 2008 to 2013

The BSE Sensex surged to a record high of 21,293.88 on Friday as blue chips rallied on the back of strong foreign buying, marking a remarkable turnaround from two months earlier when the rupee fell to record lows.

The Sensex hit the 21,000 mark for the first time on January 8, 2008. A couple of sessions later on January 10, the BSE benchmark of 30 shares hit a high of 21,206, a record that stayed until Friday.

So, basically markets today are at the same level as nearly six years back. In these six years, the Sensex has been through a roller-coaster ride.

Just months after hitting a record high on January 10, 2008, the Sensex slumped 64 per cent to a low of 7,697 by October 2008. The selloff coincided with the global financial crisis, which hit risk assets like stocks severely.

The Sensex came near the 2008 peak again in November 2010 tracking the recovery in the Indian economy. However, the gains could not be sustained, and by December 2011, the Sensex had eased to 15,000 levels, tracking the European debt crisis, which threatened to derail the world economy.

Since then, markets have witnessed a grinding journey as the Indian economy lost its growth momentum. The latest rally, starting September, has been driven by easy liquidity and a sharp pullback in the rupee.