Investors' kitty swells by nearly Rs 8 lakh crore

Investors became richer by nearly Rs 8 lakh crore on Wednesday as benchmark BSE Sensex surged by 740 points amid value buying in utilities and power shares and a strong trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 740.30 points or 1.01 per cent to close at 73,730.23.

The index jumped 943.87 points or 1.29 per cent to hit an intra-day high of 73,933.80.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms surged by Rs 797,247.7 crore to Rs 393,04,041.75 crore ($4.51 trillion).

"The benchmark indices bounced back sharply with the Sensex rising by 740 points.

"Among sectors, all major sectoral indices traded in the green, with the Metal Index rallying by over 4 per cent," Shrikant Chouhan, Head, Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said.

Hectic buying was seen in blue-chip counters like Bharti Airtel, Utilities, Power and Services shares.

Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle India and HCL Technologies were the biggest gainers in the Sensex pack.

Shares of all eleven Adani group stocks ended higher, with Adani Green Energy surging more than 10 per cent in tandem with a rally in the equity market.

Adani Green Energy's stock zoomed 10.42 per cent to close at Rs 848.45, Adani Energy Solutions jumped 10 per cent to end at Rs 710.80 -- also its upper circuit limit, Adani Wilmar climbed 7.76 per cent to finish at Rs 258.40, and Adani Total Gas appreciated by 7.70 per cent to settle at Rs 588.90 per piece on the BSE.

Shares of NDTV rose 5.47 per cent to close at Rs 119.50, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone climbed 5.02 per cent to settle at Rs 1,112.55, Adani Enterprises increased 4.57 per cent to end at Rs 2,244.85, and Adani Power appreciated 4.55 per cent to close at Rs 505.55.

Additionally, Ambuja Cements' scrip rose 3.18 per cent to settle at Rs 489.95, Sanghi Industries increased 2.97 per cent to end at Rs 54.75, and ACC went up 1.36 per cent to close at Rs 1,856.65 apiece on the bourse.

All the sectoral BSE indices ended higher, with utilities surging 4.40 per cent, power by 3.67 per cent, services by 3.64 per cent, metal by 3.52 per cent, telecommunication by 3.36 per cent, commodities by 2.88 per cent and oil & gas by 2.46 per cent.

As many as 3,247 stocks advanced while 768 declined and 86 remain unchanged on the BSE.

"A key driving factor for the market was the indication from the US Commerce Secretary that the Trump administration could announce a pathway for reducing tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods," Siddhartha Khemka, head - research, wealth management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

Further, China announced that it would restructure its steel industry to cut its total output.

China's move is expected to reduce the dumping of cheap steel into the Indian market, which would be positive for the domestic steel companies.

On the macroeconomic front, India's services PMI showed recovery in February, rising to 59, up from 56.5 in January, backed by a surge in new business order.

Khemka stated, "Investors will watch out for US Service PMI to be released later on Wednesday and European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision on Thursday."

Going ahead, a sustained market recovery would be largely dependent on global developments around the US tariffs as well as continued buying interest in domestic equities, he added.

Since September 2024, the stock indices have experienced a steady downturn.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex have dropped significantly from their highest points, and mid-cap and small-cap indices have also seen considerable losses.

Over the course of just five months, investors have collectively suffered a shocking loss of Rs 94 lakh crore.