The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped to an all-time high of Rs 304.53 lakh crore on Wednesday, buoyed by an unprecedented rally in equities where the BSE benchmark Sensex ended over the 67,000-mark for the first time ever.
Rallying for the fifth day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 302.30 points, or 0.45 per cent, to end at its lifetime closing high of 67,097.44 points.
During the day, it jumped 376.24 points, or 0.56 per cent, to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 67,171.38 points.
The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms settled at a record Rs 3,04,53,859.15 crore on Wednesday.
"Market's record breaking spree continued on Dalal Street, as we are in the midst of a strong bull run backed by robust foreign fund inflows, strong growth prospects, monsoon distribution and stable corporate earnings so far, which have increased the appetite for local stocks," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of research (retail) at Kotak Securities Ltd.
In the past five trading days, the BSE benchmark has rallied 1,703.54 points or 2.60 per cent.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,115.84 crore, according to exchange data.
"Despite the current high levels, domestic investors have hardly lost confidence in the Indian economy.
It is experiencing a broad-based rally strengthened by encouraging domestic macroeconomic data and sustained inflows from FIIs.
"Although there was some initial profit-booking today, the market confidently recovered, with buying observed in all major sectors, except auto and IT.
"Additionally, the global market is providing comfort to the rally, in anticipation of moderation in global inflation," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
From the Sensex pack, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, ITC, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainers.
Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.
Among Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai ended in the green, while Hong Kong was in the red.
Equity markets in Europe were in the green on Wednesday.
The US markets had ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.
