Indian Stock Market Soars, Investor Wealth Up Rs 4.97 Lakh Crore

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Investors became richer by over Rs 4.97 lakh crore on Monday as equity benchmark indices jumped more than 1 per cent to hit life-time peaks after the BJP's win in three Hindi heartland states.

BJP's clear majority in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh state elections fuelled the positive investor sentiments. Robust macroeconomic numbers and unabated foreign fund inflows also supported the rally in the domestic markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 877.43 points, or 1.30 per cent, to a new peak of 68,358.62 in early trade.

Following the rally, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped by Rs 4.97 lakh crore to Rs 342.64 lakh crore from Rs 337.67 lakh crore on Friday.

Among the Sensex firms, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports led the index with the maximum gains of 6.79 per cent and 4.52 per cent, respectively. Other major gainers were SBI, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Larsen & Toubro.

In five trading sessions, investors' wealth has gone up by Rs 13.92 lakh crore.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.03 per cent and smallcap index climbed 1.09 per cent.

The combined market valuation of all listed companies on the BSE reached the USD 4 trillion-milestone for the first time ever on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE has surpassed the USD 4 trillion (Rs 334.72 trillion) mark for the first time ever on Friday.

"The BJP's resounding victory in three of the four major state elections will further strengthen the market's bullish sentiment. The BJP significantly outperformed pre-poll and exit-poll expectations, which will further strengthen the prospects of the BJP retaining its majority in the Lok Sabha and the market's conviction of the BJP winning the 2024 general elections.

"We expect election-linked market volatility to remain low, which may result in the market trading at rich valuations in the near term," Kotak Institutional Equities said in a research note.

Domestic equity markets are expected to take cues from global trends, trading activity of foreign investors, and RBI's interest rate decision to be announced later this week, analysts said.