Equity investors richer by over Rs 4.73 trn in two days of rally

The recent sell-off had made some stocks attractive, hence traders bought IT, metals and telecom stocks, says an analyst

Investors became richer by over Rs 4.73 lakh crore in two days of market rally amid an overall firm trend in global equities.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 760.37 points or 1.41 per cent to settle at 54,521.15. On Friday, the benchmark had climbed 344.63 points or 0.65 per cent to 53,760.78.

The two-day rally has added Rs 4,73,814.1 crore to the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms, which now stands at Rs 2,55,39,794.75 crore.

"Firm global cues bolstered market sentiment as the benchmark Sensex closed above the psychological 54,000-mark on strong all-round buying support. The recent sell-off had made some stocks attractive, hence traders bought IT, metals & telecom stocks," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Among the Sensex constituents, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers on Monday.

Dr Reddy's Lab, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC were the laggards.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said markets are largely mirroring their global counterparts, especially the US while domestic factors like macroeconomic data and earnings cause volatile swings in between.

"Markets started the week on a buoyant note and gained nearly one and a half per cent, tracking firm global cues. After the gap-up start, the benchmark gradually inched higher as the day progressed and finally settled around the day's high," Mishra added.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT jumped the most by 3.07 per cent, followed by teck (2.96 per cent), metal (2.72 per cent), bank (2.08 per cent), basic materials (1.97 per cent) and capital goods (1.96 per cent).

FMCG was the only laggard.

As many as 2,302 firms advanced, while 1,152 declined and 158 remained unchanged.