Investors' wealth climbs Rs 4.97 lakh crore in two days of market rally

A two-day rally in the stock market made investors richer by Rs 4.97 lakh crore during this period. Rebound in global markets and absence of any fresh eruption of conflict between Israel and Iran soothed investors' sentiment.

Extending its previous day's rebound, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 560.29 points or 0.77 per cent to settle at 73,648.62. During the day, it advanced 679.47 points or 0.92 per cent to 73,767.80.

In two days, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,159.63 points or 1.59 per cent. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies climbed Rs 4,97,442.62 crore to Rs 3,97,86,490.93 crore (USD 4.79 trillion) in two days.

"The buoyancy in equity markets continued due to strong global cues as buying was seen across the board on the back of risk-on sentiment.

"Although geo-political tension in West Asia last week plundered global assets, absence of any fresh eruption of conflict between Israel and Iran also soothed the market sentiment, which triggered massive buying for the second straight session. The sharp fall in crude oil prices, currency and gold also resulted in a boost for equity assets," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex basket, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Asian Paints were the major gainers.

NTPC, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel were the laggards. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Shanghai ended lower.

European markets were trading with gains. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 1.26 per cent and midcap index rallied 0.93 per cent.

Among the indices, consumer durables advanced 2.53 per cent, industrials (1.93 per cent), capital goods (1.65 per cent), telecommunication (1.17 per cent), financial services (1.04 per cent) and consumer discretionary (1.02 per cent). Utilities emerged as the only laggard.

"The Indian market extended last Friday's relief rally as the Middle East tension saw some respite, though the situation remains fluid. The recovery was broad-based across sectors, with renewed interest in mid- and small caps," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said. A total of 2,599 stocks advanced while 1,310 declined and 148 remained unchanged.