Investors' kitty swells by Rs 7.32 lakh crore as markets skyrocket

New Delhi: Investors became richer by Rs 7.32 lakh crore on Friday as markets made a smart comeback with the BSE benchmark Sensex surging 1,961 points to reclaim the 79,000-level.

The Sensex jumped 1,961.32 points or 2.54 per cent to settle at 79,117.11. During the day, it surged 2,062.4 points or 2.67 per cent to 79,218.19.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms surged Rs 7,32,144.04 crore to Rs 4,32,71,052.05 crore (USD 5.12 trillion).

"Markets witnessed a major relief rally on across-the-board buying as benchmark indices surged over 2 per cent ahead of the poll results in two states on Saturday. The exit polls hinting at BJP winning in both the states seemed to have boosted investors' sentiment in a big way and shrugged off the Adani controversy. Also, many of the stocks are now looking relatively attractive, especially after the relentless sell-off over the past few weeks due to dismal Q2 earnings and unabated FII fund outflows, and hence the reversal of trend," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

All the 30 Sensex firms ended in the green.

Hectic buying in blue-chip counters like Reliance Industries, IT and teck shares boosted market sentiment.

State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, ITC, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance were the biggest gainers from the Sensex pack.

The majority of the listed Adani group firms ended higher, bouncing back from the previous day's sharp fall after billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani was charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Ambuja Cements surged 3.50 per cent, ACC jumped 3.17 per cent, Adani Enterprises climbed 2.16 per cent, Adani Ports (2.05 per cent), Adani Total Gas (1.18 per cent) and NDTV (0.65 per cent) on the BSE.

The BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.26 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.90 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended higher. The BSE Focused IT surged 3.26 per cent, teck (3.18 per cent), IT jumped 3.14 per cent, capital goods (2.36 per cent), energy (2.19 per cent), FMCG (2.18 per cent) and consumer durables (2.17 per cent).

A total of 2,446 stocks advanced while 1,475 declined and 120 remained unchanged on the BSE.

"Buying emerged at lower levels in blue-chip stocks causing several index heavy-weights including Reliance to gain significantly. The broader markets too participated in the rally with midcap and smallcap indices gaining," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.