Investors' wealth up by Rs 11 lk cr in 5 days

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped to a lifetime peak of Rs 404.18 lakh crore on Thursday helped by a five-day rally in benchmark indices, making investors richer by Rs 11.29 lakh crore.

Recovering after a sell-off in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 486.50 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 74,339.44 on Thursday.

During the day, it surged 718.31 points or 0.97 per cent to 74,571.25.

In the last five trading sessions, the BSE benchmark surged 1,850.45 points or 2.55 per cent.

Investors' wealth climbed Rs 11,29,363.01 crore in the past five days to reach a record high of Rs 4,04,18,411.32 crore ($4.87 trillion) on Thursday.

"Investors placed more bullish bets on the monthly F&O expiry day, which saw benchmark indices rally for the fifth straight session led by gains in frontline banking and metal stocks.

"Even the fall in other Asian and European indices and US Dow Futures witnessing a sharp fall too didn't deter local investors.

"FIIs fund outflows have been a concern area but India's strong growth prospects and hopes of a majority win for the ruling party in the upcoming elections has been drawing a lot of domestic investors to take exposure to equities," Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex basket, Axis Bank jumped 6 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 7,599 crore during the March 2024 quarter.

State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Nestle, Sun Pharma, ITC, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the other major gainers.

Kotak Mahindra Bank tanked 10.85 per cent after the RBI barred the company from onboarding customers online and issuing credit cards.

Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and Asian Paints were among the other laggards.

"The market breadth was strong, with oil prices correcting due to easing conflict in the Middle East and weakening US demand.

"The global market largely traded on a mixed note and is now focused on earning reports," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.71 per cent and smallcap advanced 0.54 per cent.

Among the indices, services advanced 1.71 per cent, metal (1.16 per cent), healthcare (0.97 per cent), power (0.94 per cent) and energy (0.87 per cent).

Consumer durables and realty were the laggards.