Indian Stock Market Rallies, Investors Gain Rs 12.80 Lakh Cr

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) With the equity markets rallying for the fifth day running, investors' wealth climbed Rs 12.80 lakh crore, amid prevailing bullish sentiments due to optimism over the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 371.95 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 72,410.38 on Thursday. During the day, it rallied 445.91 points or 0.61 per cent to reach its lifetime peak of 72,484.34.

In the last five trading sessions, the BSE benchmark rallied 1,904.07 points or 2.70 per cent.

Thanks to the optimistic trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms went up by Rs 12,80,559.2 crore in five days to reach an all-time high of Rs 3,63,00,558.07 crore.

"Markets witnessed bullish bets on the monthly F&O expiry day, indicating that the risk-on sentiment is likely to continue going ahead on hopes of a strong local macro play in the new year.

"The waning higher inflation concerns and expectations of an early rate cut in the world's largest economy has further strengthened hopes that India's growth momentum would continue further thus boosting investors' confidence," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Power Grid, Nestle, Tata Motors, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.

In contrast, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled with gains, while Tokyo ended lower.

The US markets ended in the green on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.73 per cent to USD 79.07 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday after continuous offloading and bought equities worth Rs 2,926.05 crore, according to exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.66 per cent, and smallcap index advanced 0.23 per cent.

Among the indices, oil & gas jumped 2.45 per cent, energy rallied 2.18 per cent, metal (1.60 per cent), FMCG (1.24 per cent), realty (0.97 per cent) and power (0.95 per cent).

On the other hand, industrials and IT were the laggards.