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. "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 this year. The BSE benchmark index hit its all-time high of
85,978.25 on September 27. Thanks to the
overall optimistic trend in equities, the market capitalisation (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.
Reliance Industries is the country's most valued
firm with a market valuation of Rs 16,44,792.26 crore, followed by Tata
Consultancy Services (Rs 14,82,402.82 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 13,55,520.10
crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 904,975.61 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 904,583.72
crore) in the top-five order. In 2023,
the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies climbed sharply by Rs 81.90
lakh crore.
Investors became richer by more than Rs 16.38 lakh crore in 2022.