Investors richer by Rs 6.88 lakh cr in 4 days; mcap of BSE-listed cos at new peak of Rs 373 lakh cr

New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) Investors’ wealth surged Rs 6.88 lakh crore in four days of market rally, where the Sensex reached its lifetime high of 72,720.96 on Friday, taking the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to a record peak of Rs 373.29 lakh crore.

Rallying for the fourth day running on Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 847.27 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 72,568.45, driven by a sharp rally in IT stocks. During the day, it jumped 999.78 points or 1.39 per cent to reach a new intraday record of 72,720.96.

In four days, the BSE benchmark has jumped 1,213.23 points or 1.70 per cent. During this time, investors’ wealth went up by Rs 6,88,711.19 crore to a record Rs 3,73,29,676.27 crore.

On Friday, the BSE Information Technology index jumped 5.06 per cent, the most among the sectoral indices. Teck also climbed 4.40 per cent.

Infosys jumped nearly 8 per cent after the company’s December quarter earnings came in line with market expectations.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) climbed nearly 4 per cent after the largest software exporter reported an 8.2 per cent growth in net income for the December quarter at Rs 11,735 crore, driven by a massive growth in the home market that offset to a large extent the impact of a 3 per cent degrowth in the US market.

“A sharp 5 per cent up move was seen in the IT sector after TCS and Infosys surprised the streets with their better-than-expected Q3 results,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Rally in the stocks of Infosys and TCS also fueled optimism in other IT companies.

The other prominent gainers were Tech Mahindra, Wipro and HCL Technologies.

“Indian markets soared to new heights in a powerful rally, driven by IT heavyweights. Green shoots of recovery in the IT sector on the back of an improved outlook for BFSI in FY25 positively influenced market sentiments. The robust performance of PSU banking stocks is underscored by the inherent synergy between their loan portfolios and the prevailing business cycle.

“Noteworthy is the fact that this upward surge remained resilient amid mixed global cues on account of higher-than-expected US inflation and positive jobs data, which tempered expectations for an imminent rate cut by the US Fed,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

A total of 2,112 stocks advanced, while 1,742 declined and 88 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.41 per cent, and midcap index rallied 0.36 per cent.