Market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reach fresh peak of Rs 317.33 lakh crore

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached a new lifetime peak of Rs 317.33 lakh crore on Wednesday as the benchmark Sensex maintained its winning run for the fourth day running.

Fag-end buying helped the BSE Sensex climb 100.26 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 65,880.52. In four days, the benchmark index has jumped 1,049.11 points or 1.61 per cent.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms hit a fresh peak of Rs 3,17,33,804.37 crore at the end of trade. Investors' wealth also climbed Rs 7,74,665.67 crore in four days of market rally.

"Markets witnessed a choppy ride in intra-day trade but selective buying in late trade helped benchmark indices log gains for the 4th straight session," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraTech Cement, ITC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers.

Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed marginally by 0.13 per cent while smallcap index skidded 0.04 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication jumped 1.69 per cent, FMCG climbed 1.05 per cent, consumer durables (0.89 per cent), healthcare (0.69 per cent) and energy (0.67 per cent).

Commodities, financial services, industrials, IT, bankex, capital goods, metal and realty were the laggards.

"A spike in crude oil reverberated across the globe, reviving concerns about inflation and sparking fears of a Fed rate hike. This led to a surge in US bond yields, causing investors to shift towards the safety of bonds and reversing the buying trend of foreign investors in the domestic market."

"Nevertheless, the resilience of the domestic markets shone through as investors placed their bets on an improved outlook, ultimately helping the market recover from the initial shock," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.