Mumbai, Dec. 31: The year ended on a happy note on the bourses with the sensex touching a high of 6602.69, just 397 points away from the magical 7000 mark.

?I don't think anyone can complain,? said Ramesh Damani, a BSE broker. ?It was an outstanding year and I hope the effects will be carried over to the next.?

The shareholder wealth rose from Rs 12,96,522 crore on January 1 to Rs 16,85,088 crore on December 31 partly due to new listings like NTPC, TCS and Biocon.

In December, maximum gains were posted by the main indices, which scaled new heights almost every day on robust buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

FIIs have infused nearly $8.40 billion (Rs 38,415 crore) this year ? the highest ever in any calendar year.

This helped the sensex to gain 763.73 points or 13.08 per cent in the current year, after fears were allayed that the UPA government will not derail the ongoing reforms.

Apart from key index heavyweights, heavy buying in the auto, banking, pharma and fertiliser sectors aided the upward momentum today. Hotel stocks, however, closed the day in the red as investors displayed frayed nerves after the Tsunami shock.

Hotels in Rajasthan were also affected as apprehensive western tourists cancelled their year-end rendezvous in India, say analysts. ?Hotel stocks were just recovering when the Tsunami happened,? said an analyst tracking the market.

The coming year will be more challenging, said analysts. ?The stock-picking ability will be put to the test,? said an analyst affiliated to Kotak Securities.

?Investors will look for new ideas,? the analyst said. ?The market is in no mood to correct and investors will start discounting 2006-07. It is not the end of the road,? he added.

Meanwhile, shares on the key BSE index leapt to their highest-ever close on the last trading day of the year on expectations of strong earnings growth and resurgent foreign fund flows into the country.