Investor wealth rises 102% since last year's historic market crash

Investors have gained Rs 103.78 lakh crore or 101.88% in market wealth since March 23 last year when rising coronavirus cases and the resultant lockdown in 75 districts took a heavy toll on investor sentiment.

On March 23, 2020, market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 101.86 lakh crore against market cap of Rs 205.64 lakh crore today. The decline in market cap came after Sensex and Nifty logged their highest losses  ever. While Sensex lost 3,934 points to 25,981, Nifty closed 1,135 points lower at 7,610.

Sensex closed at 50,051 today, clocking a gain of 24,070 points or 92.64% in one year. Nifty ended at 14,814 today, climbing 7,204 points or 94.66% during the period.

However, Sensex and Nifty have fallen 4.69% and 4% till date from their record highs hit on February 16.

Sensex and Nifty scaled record highs of 52,516 and 15,431 on February 16 this year led by extension of gains after investors cheered Union Budget on February 1.

The weakness in the benchmark indices came after Indian markets were impacted by profit booking, weak global cues and rising coronavirus cases in the country.

Market fell for four consecutive sessions last week amid the effect of rising US bond yields on global markets and weakening of investor sentiment due to resurgence of coronavirus cases.

Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 280 pts higher, Nifty at 14,814; bank, realty stocks lead

However, the indices managed to close in the green today despite weak global cues.

Sensex ended 280.15 points higher at 50,051 and Nifty advanced 78.35 points to 14,814.75.

The rally was led by sharp gains in index majors such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries.

Top Sensex gainers were Ultratech Cement, IndusInd  Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank rising up to 3.06%.

Commenting on  the technical outlook,  Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Senior Technical Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said," Nifty witnessed continuation in recovery on March 23. It had recently taken support near lower end of a sideways channel. Over there, it had formed a Piercing Line - a bullish candlestick pattern. In the last session, it had formed an Inside bar on the daily chart. Today, the bar pattern broke out on the upside. The overall structure shows that the index is moving from lower end of the consolidation range towards the upper end, which is near 15,000. On the other hand, 14,707 will act as a crucial near term support."

On the other hand, top Sensex losers were ONGC, PowerGrid, ITC and NTPC falling up to 2.28%.

Market breadth was positive with 1,668 stocks rising against 1292 falling on BSE.  Total 166 stocks hit their 52-week highs against 52 touching their 52-week lows.

Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities said, "Market remained volatile throughout the day but finally closed above 14,800/50000 levels. The 50-day moving average was a major hurdle for the market and is positive for the medium-term trend of the market. Based on it, Nifty/Sensex could move closer to 14,950 to 15,000 (50,500/50,700) levels. Surprisingly, support is still at 14,570/49250 levels. The formation of a double bottom in the Bank Nifty is working positively. Bank Nifty is expected to move closer to 35,000. Maintain a stop loss of 33,850."

Top 5 gainers today: UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, IndusInd, ICICI Bank, Titan rose up to 3%