Markets record rally makes investors richer by ₹4.29 lakh crore

New Delhi, Investors became richer by Rs 4.29 lakh crore on Friday as markets fired on all cylinders with the BSE Sensex rising sharply by 1,245 points or nearly 2 per cent. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 1,245.05 points or 1.72 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 73,745.35. During the day, the benchmark zoomed 1,318.91 points or 1.81 per cent to reach an all-time high of 73,819.21.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies soared by Rs 4,29,339.75 crore to Rs 3,92,25,029.98 crore (USD 4.78 trillion).

"The strong resilience in India's Q3 GDP growth numbers propelled Sensex & Nifty to fresh record highs amid a rally in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and banking stocks," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, Tata Steel jumped 6.46 per cent while JSW Steel climbed 4.46 per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Titan, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti and Tata Motors were the other major gainers.

HCL Technologies, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

India's economy grew by better-than-expected 8.4 per cent in the final three months of 2023 -- the fastest pace in one-and-a-half years.

The growth rate in October-December was higher than 7.6 per cent in the previous three years, and it helped take the estimate for the current fiscal (April 2023 to March 2024) to 7.6 per cent, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday.

"Better than expected Q3 FY24 GDP and ease in US inflation added buoyancy in both domestic and global markets. As the general election draws closer, stellar economic growth data raised confidence among investors for a pre-election rally," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

India's manufacturing sector growth climbed to a five-month high in February amid a sharper uptick in factory production and sales, supported by both domestic and external demand, a monthly survey said on Friday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 56.5 in January to 56.9 in February, pointing to the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since September 2023.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with gains.

European markets were trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 3,568.11 crore, according to exchange data.