Investors' wealth surges Rs 6.59 lakh cr as markets soar to record high

New Delhi, Sep 12: Investors' wealth soared Rs 6.59 lakh crore on Thursday as markets surged to record high levels with the benchmark Sensex breaching the historic 83,000-mark for the first time.

A sharp fag-end rally drove the 30-share BSE Sensex to the 83,000 level for the first time. The barometer surged 1,593.03 points or 1.95 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 83,116.19. The index ended at a record high of 82,962.71, up by 1,439.55 points or 1.77 per cent.

Tracking a rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms surged Rs 6,59,895.19 crore to Rs 4,67,36,045.21 crore (USD 5.57 trillion).

"Across the board buying support lifted both benchmark Sensex & Nifty to fresh record highs as falling US bond yields and expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in next week's policy meeting fuelled massive optimism," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest gainers.

Nestle emerged as the only laggard from the blue-chip pack.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.32 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 0.79 per cent.

All indices ended in the positive territory. Metal surged 3.05 per cent, telecommunication (2.61 per cent), power (2.02 per cent), auto (1.99 per cent), utilities (1.93 per cent) and commodities (1.85 per cent).

"The bulls took charge towards the end of the day and lifted the indices to a new high, mirroring the bullish global trend. The rate-cut optimism across the globe (ECB & US Fed) has provided a positive impetus to the global market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

A total of 2,335 stocks advanced while 1,612 declined and 122 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Also, 278 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 36 declined to their 52-week lows.

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

European markets were trading higher. Wall Street ended with sharp gains on Wednesday.

"This positive up-move was supported by heightened expectations of a 25bps rate cut by the US Fed after the inflation data came in on expected lines," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,755 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.