Stock markets bid goodbye to 2024 with impressive gains
New Delhi: Stock market investors became richer by a whopping Rs 77.66 lakh crore in 2024, helped by an overall optimistic trend in equities, where the BSE Sensex surged over 8 per cent.
Analysts said the year witnessed a tug of war between the bulls and bears marked by volatility but, despite the uncertainties around the world, the Indian markets sustained the pressure and delivered impressive returns.
Meanwhile, falling for the second straight day on Tuesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 109.12 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 78,139.01. Intra-day, it tanked 687.34 points or 0.87 per cent to 77,560.79. The NSE Nifty dipped marginally by 0.10 points to settle at 23,644.80.
“The year 2024 has been a challenging yet rewarding one for the markets. The Nifty steadily climbed from January to September, reaching a historic high of 26,277.35, before giving up some gains to still close the year with an impressive rise. This marked Nifty’s ninth consecutive year of positive returns, despite FIIs selling shares,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 5,898.75 points or 8.16 per cent, and the Nifty surged 1,913.4 points or 8.80 per cent this year. The BSE benchmark index hit its all-time high of 85,978.25 on September 27 this year, and the NSE Nifty also reached the lifetime high of 26,277.35 on the same day.
Thanks to the overall optimistic trend in equities, the mcap of BSE-listed firms surged Rs 77,66,260.19 crore to Rs 4,41,95,106.44 crore ($5.16 trillion) in 2024.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies hit the coveted Rs 400-lakh crore mark for the first time on April 8 this year. The market cap of these firms had hit the Rs 300-lakh crore mark in July last year.
Markets came under bear attack from October onwards amid worries over foreign investors fleeing the domestic market and stretched valuations of the equities. In October alone, the BSE benchmark slumped 4,910.72 points or 5.82 per cent.
October saw an unprecedented foreign fund outflow of Rs 94,017 crore — the largest monthly withdrawal on record — amid increased allocations to China, muted corporate earnings, and high valuation of Indian stocks.
“While FIIs engaged in profit-booking due to high valuations, Domestic Institutional Investors consistently supported the market,” Palka Arora Chopra, Director, Master Capital Services Ltd, said.
The Sensex made monthly gains in eight months this year. On a monthly basis, the Sensex gave negative returns in January, May, October and December.
Heavy retail investors’ participation played a significant role in the market’s positive trend this year. Also, a number of mainboard Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and listing of shares imparted optimism in the equity markets.
Reliance Industries is the country’s most valued firm with a mcap of Rs 16,44,792.26 crore, followed by TCS (Rs 14,82,402.82 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 13,55,520.10 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 9,04,975.61 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 9,04,583.72 crore) in the top-five order.
