New Delhi:

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms hit a lifetime peak of Rs 301.70 lakh crore on Thursday, mirroring a positive trend in domestic equities, where benchmark index Sensex settled at a new record high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 339.60 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 65,785.64. During the day, the benchmark rallied 386.94 points or 0.59 per cent to reach its lifetime intra-day peak of 65,832.98.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms reached an all-time peak of Rs 3,01,70,635.89 crore.

The BSE benchmark jumped over 2,500 points in its record rally from June 26 to July 4.

The benchmark index had dipped 33.01 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 65,446.04 on Wednesday, taking a breather from the record rally.

The mcap of BSE-listed firms had reached Rs 299.90 lakh crore on Wednesday. Investors’ wealth climbed Rs 1.80 lakh crore on Thursday helped by a rally in equities.

BSE firms’ mcap reached the historic Rs 200 lakh crore-mark on February 4, 2021. The total market valuation of all listed firms at the BSE had first hit Rs 100 lakh crore level on November 28, 2014.

Meanwhile, from the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the biggest gainer on Thursday, climbing nearly 5 per cent. Power Grid, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Axis Bank, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and Wipro were among the other major gainers.

Maruti, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, ITC and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs 1,603.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

“While several Asian and European markets languished in negative territory, our benchmark indices notched up impressive gains and hit fresh highs on broad-based buying. While economic indicators remain on sound footing, the market is looking forward to optimism in corporate earnings,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading lower. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.34 per cent to USD 76.90 a barrel.

In the broader market, the BSE midCap gauge climbed 0.79 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.67 per cent.

Among the indices, utilities rallied 2.44 per cent, realty jumped 2.17 per cent, oil & gas advanced 2 per cent, power climbed 1.96 per cent, energy (1.84 per cent), auto (1.20 per cent) and healthcare (1.05 per cent).

IT emerged as the only laggard among the indices, falling marginally by 0.05 per cent.

A total of 2,049 stocks advanced while 1,401 declined and 146 remained unchanged on the BSE.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)