Sensex Hits Record High, Investors Gain Rs 11.11 Lakh Crore

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Investors became richer by Rs 11.11 lakh crore in four days of market rally, with the benchmark Sensex zooming past the historic 72,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday, due to optimism over the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and firm global market trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 701.63 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 72,038.43 on Wednesday. During the day, it rallied 783.05 points or 1.09 per cent to 72,119.85 -- its record intra-day peak.

In four days, the BSE benchmark has jumped 1,532.12 points or 2.17 per cent.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies went up by Rs 11,11,599.28 crore to Rs 3,61,31,598.15 crore in four days.

"Strong global market undercurrent coupled with India's robust macro performance in past few quarters gave investors ample ammunition to go ballistic on India's equities as Sensex reached a new milestone level of 72k mark led by gains in banking, auto and metal stocks.

"The rally came despite worries over the ongoing conflict at Gaza and attacks on ships at the Red Sea, while hopes of rate cuts in the US next year and receding worries of recession in developed economies going ahead dictated the optimistic mood," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Larsen & Toubro were the major gainers.

On the other hand, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

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

European markets were mostly trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.41 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.20 per cent.

Among the indices, metal jumped 1.33 per cent, auto climbed 1.33 per cent, commodities (1.19 per cent), teck (0.96 per cent), IT (0.68 per cent), consumer durables (0.67 per cent) and capital goods (0.67 per cent).

Utilities, power and services were the laggards.