Sensex, Nifty scale new highs on poll optimism

Mumbai, May 23

With nearly a fortnight left for the results of Lok Sabha polls, benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty zoomed more than 1.6 per cent to close at lifetime high levels on Thursday, making investors richer by Rs 4.28 lakh crore.

Regaining the 75,000 level, the BSE Sensex ended at an all-time peak of 75,418.04, up by 1,196.98 points. During the day, it zoomed 1,278.85 points to reach its all-time intra-day high of 75,499.91. The index logged its biggest single-day gain since January 29.

The NSE Nifty inched closer to the 23,000 mark during the day. The 50-issue index went up by 369.85 points to 22,967.65. During the day, it jumped 395.8 points to 22,993.60 — its intra-day record peak. The results of General Election will be declared on June 4. The sixth and last phases of polls will be held on May 25 and June 1, respectively. Analysts attributed the rally to a record dividend announced by RBI to government and PM Narendra Modi exuding confidence about winning the elections.

Investors’ wealth went up by Rs 428,602.18 crore with the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies reaching an all-time high of Rs 42022,635.90 crore ($5.05 trillion). The market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE also hit the $5 trillion mark at the close of trade on Thursday. —PTI 

Now, NSE-listed firms’ m-cap surpasses $5 tn

The market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE surpassed $5 trillion on Thursday on a day when the Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 22,993.60. The latest $1 trillion addition took only about 6 months, the NSE said.