BSE Market Cap Hits Record High at Rs 406.52 Lakh Cr

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies soared to an all-time high of Rs 406.52 lakh crore on Monday thanks to a rally in equities where the BSE Sensex climbed over 1 per cent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 941.12 points or 1.28 per cent to finish at 74,671.28. During the day, it zoomed 990.99 points or 1.34 per cent to 74,721.15.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed companies reached a record peak of Rs 4,06,52,419.94 crore (USD 4.90 trillion). Investors' wealth climbed by Rs 2,48,043.51 crore on Monday.

"Markets witnessed phenomenal buying support as Sensex quickly moved towards the crucial 75K mark after investors cheered strong corporate earnings from select frontline banking and cement companies, indicating their smooth sailing despite the global vagaries.

"Optimism prevailed from the start of the trading session as cooling of US bond yields and letdown in the Middle East conflict coupled with a drop in crude oil prices generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst the investors," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The two-day Fed's monetary policy meeting starting Tuesday will be closely watched by global investors, although markets don't expect any change in the policy outcome, he added.

From the Sensex basket, ICICI Bank climbed nearly 5 per cent after the company on Saturday said its March quarter consolidated net profit grew 18.5 per cent to Rs 11,672 crore, helped by lower provisions.

State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma were the other major gainers.

HCL Technologies tanked nearly 6 per cent after the company reported a flat year-on-year growth in net profit in the March quarter at Rs 3,986 crore.

ITC, Wipro and Bajaj Finserv were the other laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 0.79 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.07 per cent.

"The Indian benchmark indexes rebounded, aided by an upbeat in US tech quarter earnings and a drop in US 10-year yield. Domestically, the Bank Nifty outperformed, driven by its strong performance in the fourth quarter. An ease in the Middle East tensions, coupled with stable earnings, is expected to maintain positive market sentiment," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Indian markets opened in the green following positive Asian markets, said Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research - Investment Services, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.

Traders are awaiting the US Fed's policy meeting decision this week post hotter-than-expected inflation print. Traders were seen piling up positions in the banking sector's stocks, Solanki added.

Among the indices, bankex jumped 2.70 per cent, financial services (1.81 per cent), utilities (1.12 per cent), power (0.90 per cent) and energy (0.79 per cent).

Realty and services were the laggards.

A total of 2,015 stocks advanced while 1,894 declined and 179 remained unchanged.