New Delhi, Feb 3: From a daunting March 2020 to a rewarding February 2021, equity benchmark Sensex has swung between extreme lows and highs in less than a year before closing above the 50,000 mark for the first time today.
Stock markets had witnessed volatile trends during the last year, with the benchmark crashing to its one-year low of 25,638.9 on March 24, only to roar back to life during the later part of 2020 and hit its record high of 47,896.97 on the last day of trade on December 31.
The 30-share BSE benchmark had twice hit the 50,000 mark this year but could not close above this historic level.
Earlier on January 21, the benchmark had reached its all-time peak of 50,184.01. On Tuesday (February 2), the key index jumped to an intra-day high of 50,154.48 before closing at 49,797.72.
The index finally closed above the historic mark today, mainly propelled by the euphoria over the Union Budget. The Sensex hit its lifetime high of 50,526.39 during the day, before finishing at 50,255.75.
With this rally, the index has nearly doubled from the massive lows it faced in March last year at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
Thanks to the ongoing rally, investor wealth has jumped by over Rs 12.31-lakh crore in three days, taking the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies to a record Rs 198.43-lakh crore.
“The Budget is fuelling a rally in all economy-driven sectors along with banking. The uptick in global markets, resumption of FII flows and strong earnings trend coming from Q3 results are other factors that are taking markets higher,” said Jaideep Hansraj, MD & CEO, Kotak Securities. – PTI
