New Delhi | Investors' wealth swelled by Rs 16.25 lakh crore on Wednesday, mirroring a sharp rally in the stock market where the BSE Sensex jumped nearly 4 per cent, after the US and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire.
Rising for the fifth day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 2,946.32 points or 3.95 per cent to settle at 77,562.90, registering its best trading day in five years. During the day, it surged 3,018.96 points or 4 per cent to 77,635.54.
Thanks to the sharp rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies surged by Rs 16,25,093.09 crore to Rs 4,45,51,401.85 crore (USD 4.81 trillion).
The Reserve Bank of India kept its key policy rate unchanged on Wednesday, adopting a wait-and-watch stance as policymakers assessed the fallout from the six-week Iran conflict on energy supplies, inflation and growth.
The central bank's six-member Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep the benchmark repurchase rate at 5.25 per cent, flagging heightened uncertainty after the West Asia conflict drove crude prices sharply higher, weakened the rupee and disrupted trade flows.
"The ceasefire has reduced near-term geopolitical uncertainty, supporting risk-on flows into equities — particularly in emerging markets like India, which had witnessed record FII outflows in March. Additionally, the sharp correction in crude prices is a key positive for India, as it eases inflationary pressures, narrows the current account deficit, supports the rupee, and strengthens fiscal dynamics," Ajay Menon, MD & CEO – Wealth Management (retail broking and distribution), Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.
On the policy front, the RBI maintained the repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance, ensuring stable liquidity conditions, he added.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tumbled 15 per cent to USD 92.88 per barrel.
From the Sensex pack, InterGlobe Aviation jumped the most by 8.16 per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Maruti were also among the prominent gainers.
Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Power Grid were the laggards.
Interest rate-sensitive realty, auto and bank stocks were the leading winners.
All sectoral indices ended higher. The Realty index jumped 6.76 per cent, auto (6.55 per cent), BSE PSU Bank (5.79 per cent), Bankex (5.72 per cent), Private Banks index (5.62 per cent), Financial Services (5.48 per cent), Services (5.22 per cent), Consumer Discretionary (5.11 per cent), and Industrials (4.87 per cent).
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi surged 6.87 per cent and Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 5.39 per cent. Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also recorded sharp rallies.
European markets were trading significantly higher.
A total of 3,859 stocks advanced, while 537 declined and 101 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"While there are reasons to cheer the de-escalation in the near term, and Indian equities are likely to join the rebound, the recovery, like in other markets, remains conditional on what happens next," Dhananjay Sinha, CEO & Co-Head of Institutional Equities at Systematix Group, said.
