Market capitalisation of BSE listed firms hits a new high of Rs 157 trn

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of all domestically listed companies has hit a record high after a gap of seven months. The market value of all companies listed on the BSE stood at Rs 157 trillion on Tuesday, surpassing the previous high of Rs 156.6 trillion, touched on January 23.

Although, the benchmark indices have touched new highs last month, the total m-cap remained below the January-levels owing to the weakness in the broader market. 

A clutch of initial public offerings (IPOs), new equity issuances by listed companies, and strong gains in blue-chip stocks such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Reliance Industries (RIL) have helped the market surpass previous records in terms of m-cap.

 

Interestingly, in dollar terms, the market cap is still 8 per cent below January-23 levels, owing to the sharp fall in the rupee against the greenback. India's market cap in dollar terms currently is $2.25 trillion, as compared to $2.45 trillion during the end of January.

The top five companies —TCS, RIL, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank — have collectively contributed Rs 5.58 trillion to the market cap rise since January 23 levels. During this period, TCS's market cap has gone up by Rs1.77 trillion to Rs 7.7 trillion, and RIL has seen its market value increase by Rs1.68 trillion to Rs 7.9 trillion. The nine recently listed companies, which include Bandhan Bank, Hindustan Aeronautics, HDFC Assets Management Company, ICICI Securities and Varroc Engineering have added Rs 1.97 trillion in total m-cap.

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Meanwhile, only a fourth of (135 stocks) BSE 500 components are currently trading above their January 23 levels, despite the m-cap hitting a new high.  Of the remaining 365 stocks, 15 scrips have seen their m-cap more than halve, 126 stocks declined in the range between 25 per cent and 50 per cent.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Punjab National Bank have seen their market value erode between Rs200 billion and Rs 500 billion during the period.

The benchmark Sensex has gained 12 per cent so far this year, making it one of the best-performing Asian markets. The broad-market small-cap and mid-cap indices are, however, down on a year-to-date basis.