M-cap rises by Rs 153000 crore

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of stocks traded on the BSE rose by a whopping Rs 1,53,000 crore in the last two trading days. The BSE Sensex gained 700 points in the two days, rising 269 points on Thursday and notching up 426 points on Friday.

With the rise, equity investors were richer by over Rs 153,000 crore in the last two trading sessions. The total m-cap of the actively traded stocks increased by Rs 1,53,298 crore (4.26 per cent) from Rs 35,99,228 crore on Wednesday to Rs 37,52,526 crore on Friday.

The BSE Sensex appreciated by 5.2 per cent in the last two trading days. The index gained 694.37 points from 13,362.16 points on Wednesday to close at 14,056.53 points on Friday.

Information technology (IT), banks, telecommunications and refineries were among the largest gainers, with their m-cap appreciating more than Rs 15,000 crore each.

Oil exploration, power, steel, pharmaceuticals, non-banking financial companies, personal care products and cigarettes added an m-cap between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 7,000 crore in the two days.

Friday was a record for the Sensex, up 426 points, the biggest single-day gain in the last six months. The index closed at an all-time high of 14,056.

As many as 428 stocks hit the upper circuit breaker intra-day and 331 remained frozen at the upper end of the circuit filter at the end. The market play was around non-A group stocks, with 85 per cent of the scrips from B and trade-to-trade groups attracting investors.

Of the 428 stocks that hit the upper circuit, 104 were from B2 group, 115 from T group (the trade-to-trade segment), 24 from S group, 46 from Z group, 15 from TS group and the remaining 27 from B1 group.

A total of 83 stocks from the non-banking financial companies hit the upper limit of the circuit filter.

Bankex hits peak on SLR mandate

The banking sector index, Bankex, hit lifetime high today to close at 7,383. The Cabinet approval to permit Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more flexibility with respect to statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) provided the trigger.

Bankex, the largest gainer among sectoral indices on Friday rose 6.8 per cent (469.40 points), recorded its highest single-day gain since inspections.

The index touched intra-day high of 7,412.10, finally settled at 7,383.25 against its previous close of 6,913.85. The Sensex appreciated 3.12 per cent (425.82 points) to close at 14,056.53 (13,630.71).

Most of the banking stocks such as State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank gained more than five per cent.

Only two banks "� J&K Bank (down 1.44 per cent) and IDBI (0.35 per cent) were the losers in today's market. Private sector banks ICICI Bank (Rs 977.50), J&K Bank (Rs 700), Federal Bank (Rs 258.20), South Indian Bank (Rs 103.90), Dhanlakshmi Bank (Rs 67.30) and Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 47.75) hit an all-time high on the BSE in intra-day trades.