Another milestone: Sensex rallies over 52,000 mark for first time ever

The benchmark Sensex rallied over the 52,000 mark for the first time ever on Monday propelled by gains in the broader market.

In yet another milestone, the 30-share BSE index jumped to its lifetime high of 52,235.97, rallying 691.67 points during the trade on Monday. It later closed with a gain of 609.83 points or 1.18 per cent at 52,154.13, its new closing high.

Banks and financial counters were the leading gainers in the market on Monday, with Axis Bank rising the most by 5.88 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC and HDFC Bank.

''Optimistic global sentiment and improving corporate earnings are leading an uptrend in the market dictated by banking and realty stocks,'' Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

The benchmark index had closed above the 50,000 mark for the first time ever on February 3 this year, mainly driven by euphoria over the Union Budget. It closed above 51,000 mark on February 8.

Markets have been rewarding investors of late as the BSE 30-share index has more than doubled from the massive lows it faced in March last year.

Proving to be a dreadful month for the domestic stock market, March 2020 saw the Sensex sinking a massive 8,828.8 points or 23 per cent during the month as concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the economy ravaged investor sentiments.

From witnessing gigantic losses to record-shattering gains, investors witnessed a wide array of emotions in 2020.

Stock markets had depicted volatile trends during the last year, with the benchmark crashing to its one-year low of 25,638.9 on March 24, only to roar back to life during the later part of 2020 and hit its record high of 47,896.97 on the last day of trade on December 31.

In 2020, the benchmark index made monthly gains in seven, while closing with losses in five.

So far this year, the benchmark index has gained 4,402.8 points or 9.22 per cent.

Thanks to the ongoing rally, investor wealth has also been rising to new records and is currently at over Rs 205.15 lakh crore.

The BSE-listed companies market cap had crossed the landmark Rs 100 lakh crore on November 28, 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)