Sensex Surges 8.48%, Investors Gain Rs 36.65 Lakh Cr

New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) Investors added Rs 36.65 lakh crore to their wealth in seven days of a steep rally in the equity market, where the benchmark Sensex jumped over 8 per cent during this period.

On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge jumped 520.90 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 80,116.49, the highest closing level since December 18. During the day, it surged 658.96 points or 0.82 per cent to 80,254.55.

In the past seven trading days, the BSE benchmark zoomed 6,269.34 points or 8.48 per cent.

Thanks to the rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms surged by Rs 36,65,542.83 crore to Rs 4,30,47,876.05 crore (USD 5.04 trillion) during this time.

"Benchmark indices closed higher for the 7th straight session on Wednesday, helped by positive global cues. Markets opened sharply higher in the morning, helped by an overnight rally in the US markets after Trump ruled out firing the US Fed chair Powell. Trump also expressed optimism over the trade deal with China, further lifting the global sentiment.

"However, markets had a volatile session in the morning as banking stocks saw profit-booking with indices giving up opening gains, only to bounce back in a steady rebound throughout the day on sustained buying to close near day's highs," Satish Chandra Aluri, Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

Among the Sensex firms, HCL Tech surged the most by 7.72 per cent after the firm posted an 8.1 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,307 crore for the March quarter 2024-25, mainly on account of large deals with a total contract value of about Rs 25,500 crore.

Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Maruti were also among major gainers.

HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ITC and UltraTech Cement were the laggards.

"Nifty extended its rally for the seventh consecutive day, closing at an over 4-month high. Positive momentum continued in the Indian markets on the back of sustained FII buying and strong global market cues due to multiple positive developments in the US.

"US President Donald Trump signalled a softer approach to trade negotiations with China and dismissed any intention of firing Fed Chair Powell," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.94 per cent and smallcap index went up by 0.26 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT surged 4.25 per cent, IT jumped 4 per cent, teck (3.10 per cent), auto (2.34 per cent), realty (1.37 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.02 per cent), healthcare (0.96 per cent) and industrials (0.84 per cent).

Financial Services, bankex and consumer durables were the laggards.

As many as 2,078 stocks advanced while 1,873 declined and 155 remained unchanged on the BSE.