FY24 made Dalal Street investors richer by Rs 129 lakh crore

FY24, the year that showered wealth upon investors! As Dalal Street exited FY24 in style on March 28, the last trading session of the financial year that began on April 1, 2023, investors emerged wealthier by Rs 1,28,77,203.8 crore as the market capitalisation of stock exchange BSE-listed firms reached almost Rs 387 lakh crore from Rs 258.2 lakh crore a year, according to provisional exchange data. Headline indices Nifty50 and Sensex staged their best post-COVID performance in a financial year following a muted 2022-23.

What drove the gains on Dalal Street? Analysts say that a slew of favourable factors such as a booming domestic economy, robust institutional fund inflows, and overall decent corporate earnings propelled the market during the year. 

Here are key things to know about the bumper year for the bulls: 

1. How did Sensex and Nifty fare? While the Sensex added 14,659.8 points during the financial year, the Nifty50 surged 4,967.2 points, amounting to returns of almost 25 per cent and 29 per cent respectively. The 30- and 50-scrip gauges had gained and lost 423 points and 105 points in FY23 respectively. 

2. How did various sectors perform? While all of the 13 sectoral indices rose in FY24, gains were led by the Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto indices which clocked rallies to the tune of 70-135 per cent.

3. How did midcap and smallcap barometers fare? Despite their recent underperformance amid valuation concerns flagged by market regulator Sebi in mid-March, the smallcap and midcap segments outperformed the headline indices with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 70 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. 

4. How did Indian benchmarks fare among global peers? The Sensex and Nifty indices entered the club of best performing barometers globally, second only to the Nasdaq.

5. How big was the bull run? Before FY24, the best financial year for the Nifty50 was FY21 when record foreign inflows powered a 71 per cent surge in the index from COVID-triggered lows. Until then, the biggest gain for the index was in FY10 when stocks rebounded from a drop after the 2008 global financial crisis.

With inputs from agencies