Investors richer by Rs 8 lakh crore in 3 days

Equity investors became richer by Rs 8.11 lakh crore in three days of market rally that saw the benchmark Sensex breaching the 71,000-mark for the first time on Friday.

The US Federal Reserve keeping its key interest rate unchanged and signalling rate cuts next year, along with continuous foreign fund inflows into the equity markets, have fuelled the rally in stocks.

Rallying for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 969.55 points or 1.37 per cent to settle at its new all-time high of 71,483.75 points.

During the day, the benchmark zoomed 1,091.56 points or 1.54 per cent to reach its lifetime intra-day peak of 71,605.76 points.

In three days, the BSE benchmark has jumped 1,932.72 points or 2.77 per cent.

Investors' wealth has surged by Rs 8,11,802.11 crore in three days.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms hit a fresh record high of Rs 3,57,87,999.80 crore on Friday.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm amongst the investors, especially foreign investors, who are pumping in funds into domestic equities over the past few weeks post the state election results.

"Political stability and hopes of continuation of reforms going ahead coupled with US Fed's dovish stance on rates, falling bond yields and sliding crude oil prices has improved the sentiment," Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

He also said that due to overbought technical conditions, the benchmark may consolidate in the near term.

Sensex surged past the 70,000 level for the first time in early trade on Monday.

"Sensex hitting 71,000-mark highlights a significant milestone for the Indian stock market, reflecting the nation's economic progress and growing investor confidence," Suman Bannerjee, CIO of hedge fund Hedonova, said.

HCL Technologies emerged as the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 5.58 per cent, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tech Mahindra and Wipro.

Nestle, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and ITC were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled with gains while Shanghai ended lower.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 3,570.07 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.