Stock market today: Nifty 50, Sensex gain about 1% each; mid, smallcaps outperform; investors pocket over ₹5 lakh crore

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BSE Sensex opened at 70,165.49 against the previous close of 70,370.55 and touched its intraday high and low of 71,149.61 and 70,001.60 respectively. The 30-share pack closed at 71,060.31, up 690 points, or 0.98 per cent. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed the benchmark, jumping almost 2 per cent each.

The overall market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms rose to nearly ₹371.2 lakh crore from nearly ₹366 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by about ₹5.2 lakh crore in a single session. Nearly 300 stocks, including Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Lupin, Power Grid, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Tube Investments of India and United Spirits, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE. As many as 43 stocks ended higher in the Nifty 50 index.

Shares of Hindalco Industries (up 4.68 per cent), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 3.82 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (up 3.73 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. Shares of ICICI Bank (down 2.99 per cent), Axis Bank (down 2.72 per cent) and Asian Paints (down 1.73 per cent) ended as the top laggards in the Nifty 50 pack.

Barring the Nifty Private Bank index, which fell 0.24 per cent, all sectoral indices ended higher on Wednesday. Nifty Media index rose 3.06 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal which rose 2.96 per cent and Nifty Oil & Gas which rose 2.02 per cent. Nifty Bank rose 0.15 per cent.