Dalal Street investors become richer by Rs 6 lakh cr as markets rally

New Delhi: Investors' wealth climbed Rs 6 lakh crore on Monday, with the BSE Sensex rallying nearly 2 per cent, driven by heavy buying in Reliance Industries and a rally in Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,240.90 points or 1.76 per cent to settle at 71,941.57. During the day, it soared 1,309.55 points or 1.85 per cent to 72,010.22.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped Rs 6,08,556.11 crore to Rs 3,77,20,679.19 crore (USD 4.53 trillion).

"Firm global cues lifted the domestic market sentiment, as the broad-based rally pushed the benchmark Sensex above the psychological 72,000-mark towards the closing stage led by RIL which scaled a fresh record high. After last week's major sell-off triggered by FII selling, further short-covering coupled with recovery in global indices aided renewed optimism in the markets today," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, Reliance Industries jumped nearly 7 per cent, contributing the most to the rally in markets.

Tata Motors, Power Grid, Larsen and Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Titan and UltraTech Cement were the other major gainers.

ITC, Infosys, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Shanghai ended lower.

"The domestic market underwent an upturn as the recent sell-off and positive Asian peers provided an opportunity to accumulate quality stocks. Despite premium valuations, confidence is upheld among investors due to the optimistic environment surrounding the interim budget and the recent set of results aligning with forecasts.

"Globally, the upcoming Fed policy stands out as a crucial factor. While a rate cut by the FOMC is unlikely, investors will eagerly monitor their commentary to get cues on future rate paths," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 1.68 per cent and smallcap index rallied 1.03 per cent.

Among the indices, energy jumped 5.29 per cent, oil & gas zoomed 4.94 per cent, power (3.03 per cent), services (2.82 per cent), capital goods (2.13 per cent), industrials (2.17 per cent) and consumer durables (1.93 per cent).

FMCG, IT and teck were the laggards.

A total of 2,266 stocks advanced while 1,654 declined and 141 remained unchanged.

"Domestic market started the week on a buoyant note with renewed buying seen in Index heavyweights. This week two important events are scheduled for Thursday - interim budget and US FED meeting, which could induce some volatility," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.