Nifty m-cap tops Rs 100 lakh cr as stocks hit record | Economic Times

Mumbai: The market value of all Nifty companies topped Rs 100 lakh crore for the first time on Wednesday as stocks closed at an all-time high. Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 6,027 crore, the highest single-day purchase in nearly three months. The Nifty is already the fourth most expensive global index on a trailing 12-month basis after Germany, US and France.Strong foreign fund buying amid hopes of a quicker recovery from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic have driven stocks to all-time highs in recent days. The Nifty rose 0.93% to 12,749 on Wednesday while the Sensex jumped 0.73% to 43,593. The 50-share index has climbed 67% since the lows of March when its value was Rs 58.91 lakh crore but its closing market cap on a dollar basis of $1.33 trillion is still lower than its peers in East Asian countries — South Korea’s Kospi is valued at $1.46 trillion while Taiwan’s TSEC is worth $1.38 trillion.Nifty’s market cap is 60% of all listed companies which together are valued at Rs 167 lakh crore.The Nifty’s journey to Rs 100 lakh crore since March has been led by heavyweights like Reliance Industries — which added Rs 8 lakh crore — as well as TCS, HDFC Bank and Infosys, which together contributed nearly Rs 9.8 lakh crore. HDFC Bank on Wednesday became a $100 billion market cap company after an 11-month gap. It became the third Indian firm to achieve this milestone after Reliance and Tata Consultancy Services.Raamdeo Agrawal, chairman, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said more companies from IT, pharma and private sector banks could join the billion-dollar club in the coming years.“In the midst of several challenges, I still think that the outlook for markets is pretty positive," said Pankaj Murarka, CIO, Renaissance Investment Managers.