Investors’ wealth jumps over Rs 2.51 lakh cr as stocks rebound

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and tumbled 581.93 points or 1.10 per cent to 52,260.82 during the day amid firming oil prices and relentless selling by foreign institutional investors.

Amid bouts of volatility, the benchmark touched a high of 53,484.26 and a low of 52,260.82 during the trade.

It finally settled at 53,424.09, higher by 581.34 points or 1.10 per cent.

With the recovery in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped Rs 2,51,663.79 crore to reach Rs 2,43,62,494.83 crore.

“Markets remained volatile but managed to end with gains, taking a breather after the recent fall. The bias was negative in the first half in continuation to prevailing trend. However, healthy buying in select heavyweights triggered a sharp recovery in the latter half,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Sun Pharma the biggest gainer among Sensex firms with a jump of 3.99 per cent, followed by TCS, NTPC, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s, UltraTech Cement and Infosys.

In contrast, Tata Steel, Titan, PowerGrid, Nestle India and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap index gained 1.46 per cent and the smallcap index jumped 1.33 per cent.

“Nifty opened lower in line with global peers. Increased selling pressure pushed Nifty to 15,671 — below its previous day’s low. However, there was some respite in the second half of the day on the back of short covering in domestic market as well as recovery seen in global markets,” according to Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 3.37 per cent to USD 127.4 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 7,482.08 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.