Indian Stock Market Rally: Sensex Jumps 4%, Investors Gain Rs 22.12 Lakh Cr

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) Equity investors have become richer by Rs 22.12 lakh crore in the five-day stock rally which saw the benchmark BSE Sensex jumping more than 4 per cent.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 557.45 points or 0.73 per cent to settle at 76,905.51. During the day, it surged 693.88 points or 0.90 per cent to 77,041.94. In five days, the Sensex zoomed 3,076.6 points or 4.16 per cent.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped Rs 22,12,191.12 crore to Rs 4,13,30,624.05 crore (USD 4.79 trillion) in five days.

"Investors shrugged off negative global markets sentiment, as FIIs making a steady comeback to local equities this week provided a major fillip. With the recent fall making stocks attractive across several sectors, including broader mid & smallcap indices, investors continued with short covering which helped Sensex breach the 77k mark in intra-day trade," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex pack, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Power Grid and Zomato were among the gainers.

However, Infosys, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan and Bajaj Finserv were the laggards.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,239.14 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 2.05 per cent and midcap index rallied 1.14 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas surged 2.25 per cent, utilities (2.11 per cent), telecommunication (1.91 per cent), energy (1.86 per cent), healthcare (1.56 per cent), industrials (1.30 per cent) and services (1.26 per cent).

Consumer Durables and metal were the laggards.

As many as 2,823 stocks advanced while 1,213 declined and 126 remained unchanged on the BSE.

"The domestic market has concluded the week with consistent recovery. The anticipated reduction in risk-free rates, coupled with the correction in the dollar index, are facilitating fund flows back to EMs. FIIs, whose selling activity has been waning, are becoming net buyers, driven by dovish signals from the U.S. Fed, which suggest the possibility of two rate cuts this year.

"This has reignited optimism in the domestic market," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.