It was a week equity investors would not forget in a hurry. Investor wealth shot up Rs 26.4 lakh crore — the highest ever weekly rise — with as much as 60% of the gains coming on Monday alone.
This was on the back of sharp rise in benchmark and broader indices. The Sensex jumped 2,876.12 points, or 3.62%, to close at 82,330.59, while the Nifty surged 1,011.80 points, or 4.21%, to end above the 25,000 mark at 25,019.80 — marking their best weekly performance in a month.
Broader markets significantly outperformed the benchmarks.
The BSE Midcap index rose 6.87%, posting its best weekly gain in two months, while the BSE Smallcap index soared 9.21%, marking its biggest weekly rise in five years (since April 12, 2020).
Notably, both indices recorded gains in all five trading sessions of the week.
Both foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 13,284 crore and Rs 9,557 crore, respectively. This includes FPI inflows of $1 billion (Rs 8,831.05 crore) and DII inflows of Rs 5,187.09 crore on Friday alone.
“The Indian equity markets opened the week on a strong note, buoyed by the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, India and Pakistan.
“This pivotal development swiftly dispelled a cloud of geopolitical uncertainty that had weighed on investor sentiment, triggering a wave of optimism across the markets,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
The week proved to be spectacular, with key indices posting their strongest single-day gains in over four years. Defence, NBFCs, and automobiles were among the standout sectors, driven by renewed investor confidence in the improving business outlook, Nair added.
On Friday, while the benchmark indices declined marginally — down up to 0.24% — the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices continued to rise, gaining up to 1.18%.
“Markets traded lackluster after Thursday’s surge and ended marginally lower in the absence of fresh triggers. The tone remained subdued from the outset, with consolidation in heavyweight stocks across sectors capping the movement throughout the session,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP – Research, Religare Broking.
He added that more than the recovery in benchmark indices, the broad-based rebound offered greater relief to market participants. Sustained FII inflows and stable global cues are further supporting the positive sentiment.
All the sectoral indices on both BSE and NSE recorded weekly gains. Industrials, realty, capital goods, services, and metals were the top performers, rising up to 11.07% over the week.
Among the Sensex 30, Tata Steel, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers, climbing up to 10.3% during the week.