Investors' wealth rises by Rs 6.63 lakh cr in two days of market rally; participants expect stimulus package by govt

New Delhi: Investors’ wealth rose by Rs 6,63,240.78 crore in two days of the market rally as sentiment improved in anticipation of a stimulus package by the government to cushion the economic blow of coronavirus. The Sensex zoomed 1,861.75 points or 6.98 percent to close at 28,535.78 on Wednesday. In the previous trade, it had gained 692.79 points or 2.67 percent to close at 26,674.03. The sharp rally in the equity market helped the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies jump Rs 6,63,240.78 crore to Rs 1,08,50,177.06 crore in two days. [caption id=“attachment_7138411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “The recent positive announcements from the US Federal Reserve and rising hopes of a stimulus package from the Indian government have lifted sentiments,” according to Ajit Mishra, vice-president (research), Religare Broking Ltd. He added that going forward, we expect volatility to remain high in the near term and any sustainable rally would largely depend upon how effectively we can contain the spread of coronavirus now with a 21-day nationwide lockdown in place. RIL, which jumped nearly 15 percent, was the biggest contributor to the market rally. Other big gainers from the 30-share frontline companies’’ pack were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, HDFC Bank and HDFC. According to Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, “Global markets have been trading in the green, driven by expectations of stimulus measures to support the respective economies and not because of any change in ground realities. A much more stable rally can happen only after any news regarding the virus containment comes in.” On the sector front, all the indices ended higher wherein energy, banking, consumer durables and capital goods were the top gainers. In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap index closed higher by 3.53 percent and 2.84 percent, respectively. On the BSE, 1,213 companies advanced, while 989 declined and 154 were unchanged.