M-cap of BSE-listed firms at all-time high of Rs 288.50 lakh crore

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached an all-time high of Rs 288.50 lakh crore on Wednesday amid an ongoing rally in equities, as the benchmark Sensex settled above 63,000-level for the first time ever.

The 30-share BSE barometer climbed 417.81 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 63,099.65, its fresh record closing high. During the day, the benchmark jumped 621.17 points or 0.99 per cent to 63,303.01, its lifetime intra-day peak.

Extending its winning momentum to seventh day, the Sensex has rallied 1,954.81 points or 3.19 per cent during this time.

Investors wealth also climbed Rs 7,59,642.89 crore in seven days, taking the market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms to Rs 2,88,50,896.03 crore.

"The spectacular rally reflecting a risk-on attitude at Dalal Street saw Nifty scale a new all-time high and Sensex crack the 63,000 mark for the first time ever.

"The celebratory mood should continue with stock-specific action likely to command investors' attention.

"However, all anxious eyes will be on Fed Chairman Powell's address...," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Continuous foreign fund inflows have also added to the overall positive momentum in the market.

"Indian equity markets are cheering at their all-time highs, snubbing the volatility of global markets.

"The beauty of the current rally is that the market is finding support from new sectors every day.

"In the second half of 2022, there is a clear trend of outperformance of Indian equity markets.

"This trend is likely to continue despite the fact that we are trading at expensive valuations compared to most of our global peers, as our fundamentals are strong and we have strong support from domestic money," Santosh Meena, Head of Research - Swastika Investmart Ltd, said.

The market will react to Jerome Powell's speech tomorrow, and auto sales figures will cause stock-specific movements, Meena added.

In Wednesday's trade, among the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and Titan were the major gainers.

IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and ITC were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.06 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.61 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended in the green, with utilities rallying 2.52 per cent, power jumped 2.35 per cent, metal (1.96 per cent), auto (1.74 per cent), commodities (1.62 per cent), realty (1.54 per cent), telecommunication (1.44 per cent) and consumer discretionary (1.25 per cent).

"Sentiment turned extremely bullish towards the closing stages, as renewed foreign institutional buying propelled both the benchmark indices to scale fresh highs.

"Also, strong European markets opening further bolstered investors' sentiment ahead of the Q2 GDP data announcement," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

A total of 2,058 firms advanced, while 1,438 declined and 106 remained unchanged.