oppn parties Stock Markets: Indices And Market Capitalization At All-Time Highs

News Snippets

  • The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to investigate alleged irregularities in bulk Form 7 applications during Uttar Pradesh's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, take corrective steps and submit a compliance report. The Commission's counsel told the court that its officers had found the bulk applications false and had not acted on them
  • The INDIA bloc postponed its symbolic public impeachment proceedings against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to October 31 because of rain and reiterated plans for its November 1 march to Ramlila Maidan
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused opposition leaders of spreading rumours and attempting to create chaos amid the West Asia crisis, while Home Minister Amit Shah challenged them to seek a special parliamentary session to discuss their allegations against the Election Commission. Shah said the BJP was ready for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls
  • Amit Shah announced that the BJP would implement a Uniform Civil Code in Uttar Pradesh if it returned to power in next year's Assembly election. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned why the BJP had waited through two terms in government before making the promise
  • The political dispute over the proposed sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to Fairfax intensified as Rahul Gandhi questioned the government's decision and raised concerns about employee protections and reservation policies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the transaction, saying the bank had been revived through recapitalisation and that due process had been followed
  • Congress has asked Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, State Election Commission and Kolkata Municipal Corporation to provide an online voter-roll search facility and email-based filing of claims and objections for the civic polls. The CPM has separately sought the relocation of three municipal returning officers' offices to north Kolkata to make access easier for voters
  • The Madras High Court directed Tamil Nadu's Cyber Crime Division to monitor online platforms for content amounting to criminal intimidation of sitting judges and ordered police to act against threats and personal abuse. It declined to impose a blanket ban on peaceful discussion or criticism of judicial decisions, distinguishing criticism of judgments from intimidation of judges
  • Six people, including five passengers and the pilot, were killed when a helicopter travelling from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed in Uttarakhand's Joshimath valley after losing communication and tracking contact. Operator Trans Bharat Aviation grounded its entire fleet as a precaution while authorities conducted search and rescue operations
  • The Reserve Bank of India intensified cybersecurity scrutiny of banks after a rise in attacks, asking lenders to demonstrate compliance with existing rules, examine vulnerabilities in application programming interfaces and explain preparations for AI-related risks. The review follows a leak of data belonging to 3,900 SBI customers and more than 700 unauthorised transfers worth about $2 million from two non-bank lenders
  • India's foreign-exchange reserves fell by $1.27 billion to $719.75 billion in the week ended October 23, marking a seventh consecutive weekly decline and the lowest level in more than two months. RBI data also showed bank credit grew 17.94% year-on-year to ₹232.54 lakh crore by October 15, ahead of 16.6% growth in deposits
  • The Sensex rose 308.49 points, or 0.42%, to close at 74,459.53 on Friday, while the Nifty 50 gained 116.35 points, or 0.51%, to settle at 23,053.10, crossing the 23,000 mark. IT stocks led the rally, with the Nifty IT index gaining over 2%, while mid-cap and small-cap shares came under pressure, with their respective indices falling 0.93% and 1.85%. For October, the Sensex gained 2.7% and the Nifty 1.9%, ending a two-month losing streak
  • Manisha Bhanwala became the first Indian woman to win a senior wrestling world title, defeating American Abigail Nette 8-6 in the 59kg freestyle final after trailing 0-6. India finished the women's freestyle competition with four medals, its best-ever haul at the championships
  • India defeated Japan 4-1 in the men's Asian Champions Trophy in Jalandhar to register a third consecutive victory. Abhishek Nain scored twice, while captain Harmanpreet Singh and Vishnukant Singh added one goal each
  • New Zealand beat India by 87 runs in the fourth T20 International at Auckland, with Glenn Phillips scoring 107 off 49 balls as the hosts posted 259-7. India were restricted to 172-9 but retain a 3-1 lead in the five-match series
  • Supreme Court wonders how scammers know who keeps huge funds in their accounts, says bank staff is involved in digital arrest scams and asks RBI to mandate indemnification by banks of money lost by customers in digital arrest scams
Congress conducts 'public impeachment' of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in mock Parliament at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's house /////// Rahul Gandhi says Kumar is not going to survive as CEC
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Stock Markets: Indices And Market Capitalization At All-Time Highs

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2021-06-12 06:19:09

The Sensex had hit its then all-time high of 52517 points on February 16, 2021 as the first wave had all but gone and the second wave was neither on the radar nor was being talked about. Everything was open, GST collections were inching up to record highs every month, other economic data also showed that recovery was on track, the Covid vaccination drive had begun and was one month old by then and there was a positive vibe in the economy. But then, disaster struck. The ferocity of the second wave took everyone by surprise and when restrictions started being imposed in many states, the markets were despondent.

Yesterday, June 12, 2021, the Sensex hit 52643 in intraday trade to surpass the earlier figure. It closed at 52475 which was its all-time high closing. The Nifty also closed at an all-time high of 15799. The market capitalization of BSE stood at 233.7 lakh crore, another all-time high figure. As the second wave recedes (it is now down to one-fourth of its peak) and as states press the unlock button and as the vaccination drive picks up after a lull, market operators see this as a sign of rapid economic recovery. The current rally, though fuelled by foreign fund buying initially, is now being sustained by domestic funds. Selected shares are making huge gains.

But with experts predicting a third wave and with the middleclass grappling with financial distress, is the rally premature? Will demand pick up exponentially and will companies post good results in the short term to sustain this rally? There is no doubt about the resilience of the Indian economy and it will bounce back in time, but at current valuation, some shares definitely look heavily overpriced. Further, with the government not showing any immediate inclination of investing in infrastructure, recovery will be slow. This is proved by slow credit offtake as entrepreneurs have turned risk-averse.

Pic courtesy: investinghaven.com