Sensex scales 74K peak for first time; last 1,000 points rally took 37 sessions

Mumbai, March 6 : The Sensex jumped 409 points on Wednesday to close above the 74,000 mark for the first time.

The Sensex settled at 74,085.99, up 409 points, or 0.55 per cent on Wednesday, while the Nifty 50 closed at 22,474.05, up 118 points, or 0.53 per cent, both settling at their fresh closing peaks.

This was achieved by Sensex in 37 sessions since the last milestone was achieved on January 15. In the latest leg of 1000 points rally, the overall market cap went up by around Rs 15.3 lakh crore, said Sriram B.K.R., Senior Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

BSE’s total market capitalisation was reported to be at Rs 391.3 lakh crore, after hitting a new high of Rs 394 lakh crore on March 2, a few lakh crore short of the Rs 400 lakh crore mark.

The latest 5,000-point milestone of the Sensex, emanating from 69,000, took place in about 65 sessions or 3.1 months.

The latest 10,000-point milestone from 64,000 took place in 172 sessions or 8.3 months, as per the analyst.

It took 32.1 years for the Index to climb the 35,000 points milestone, in January 2018. The next 35,000 points got added over the next 5.9 years (a rise of 100 per cent), Sriram said.

This was aided by the price appreciation of listed stocks alongside new issues and listings coming to the public.

India’s GDP during the three months ending December 2023 grew at 8.4 per cent, the highest among all the large economies in the world.

According to the India Outlook report by Crisil released on Wednesday, the country’s economic progress will be supported by domestic structural reforms and cyclical factors.

Crisil anticipates that India could potentially even surpass its growth prospects, aiming to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2031.

This growth trajectory positions India to attain upper middle-income status by 2031, with the economy expected to double to $7 trillion, said ratings agency Crisil.

India was generally looked upon as a ‘bright spot’ among the major world economies bringing record foreign flows to equities, which helped the markets scale higher.

Going forward, the markets will continue to track the valuation trajectory and earnings growth of the Indian corporate for FY24, and the ensuing general elections related developments, Sriram said.