Indian stock markets achieved a historic milestone as the combined market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies reached a record ₹482.31 lakh crore as of Monday's close, according to Zee News. This represents a 17% increase since the beginning of April, surpassing the previous record set on January 2. The rally has been broad-based rather than concentrated in large-cap stocks, with the BSE 250 Microcap Index emerging as the strongest performer, hitting a record high on July 2 after surging more than 32% since April. As per Zee News, the sustained rally has been driven by easing geopolitical tensions, softer crude oil prices, and renewed foreign institutional investor buying.
Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest gainer among the top-10 firms, with its market valuation jumping ₹36,529.21 crore to ₹11,63,877.30 crore. As reported by The Economic Times, The Hindu BusinessLine, The Times of India, Moneycontrol, Live Mint, and NDTV Profit, Bajaj Finance added ₹33,059.83 crore, taking its valuation to ₹6,43,141.36 crore. ICICI Bank's valuation surged ₹16,084.29 crore to ₹10,11,695.03 crore, while Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) climbed ₹8,601.99 crore to ₹5,44,139.55 crore.
According to The Economic Times, The Hindu BusinessLine, The Times of India, Moneycontrol, Live Mint, and NDTV Profit, HDFC Bank rallied ₹7,664.89 crore to ₹12,33,646.33 crore, while Hindustan Unilever edged higher by ₹6,461.38 crore to ₹5,17,086.30 crore. However, several prominent firms faced valuation declines. Larsen & Toubro tumbled ₹26,572.20 crore to ₹5,53,978.63 crore, while Reliance Industries eroded by ₹18,945.56 crore to ₹17,64,981.36 crore. State Bank of India (SBI) declined by ₹4,846.08 crore to ₹9,59,891.92 crore, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) dipped by ₹1,031.15 crore to ₹7,57,175.27 crore.
As reported by The Economic Times, The Hindu BusinessLine, The Times of India, Moneycontrol, Live Mint, and NDTV Profit, Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, attributed the positive market sentiment to resilient domestic macroeconomic indicators, healthy GST collections and improving industrial activity. Market expectations of a more accommodative global monetary policy following softer-than-expected US labour market data further strengthened investor sentiment. According to Zee News, investor sentiment received additional boost from government and RBI measures to encourage foreign investment, including initiatives to exempt capital gains tax on foreign investments in government securities and allow direct participation by the global Indian diaspora. Market experts noted clear signs of an uptrend as two major headwinds - elevated crude oil prices and sustained foreign portfolio investor selling - have reversed.
Despite the record market cap achievement, benchmark indices remain below their historical peaks. As per Zee News, since the beginning of April, Sensex and Nifty have gained nearly 8% but remain 8.8% and 7.2% respectively below their record highs touched on January 2. The BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 663.44 points (0.86%) while the NSE Nifty rose 214.85 points (0.89%) during the week, ending on a firm footing. Robust auto retail sales in June reflected the economy's growth momentum, while lower crude prices are expected to keep inflation under control and enable the RBI to maintain a low interest rate environment, supporting the broader market rally.
