Investor wealth grows by Rs 10 trillion in 2012 rally

Barely one and a half months into the new year, the stock market has made its investors richer by more than Rs 10 lakh crore on the back of a smart pull-back rally since the beginning of 2012.

Barely one and a half months into the new year, the stock market has made its investors richer by more than Rs 10 lakh crore on the back of a smart pull-back rally since the beginning of 2012.

In the process, the stock market has recovered more than half of the losses suffered during the entire year in 2011.

At the end of Tuesday's trade, when the market barometer Sensex posted a modest 75-point gain, the total investor wealth stood at Rs 63,57,880.52 crore, as per the cumulative value of all listed stocks on the BSE.

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This marks an increase of Rs 10,09,236.2 crore or about 19% from the level recorded as on December 31, 2011, when the total investor wealth stood at Rs 53,48,644.8 crore.

The stock market had tanked heavily last year, losing more than one-fourth of the valuation in the biggest yearly plunge since 2008 and the second-biggest loss ever.

The benchmark Sensex had also lost about 5,054 points last year and stood at 15,454.92 points as on December 31, 2011.

Since then, the index has appreciated by 2,400 points or about 15% and stood at 17,848.57 points at the end of today's trade.

A number of heavyweight stocks, including RIL and ICICI Bank have appreciated smartly so far in 2012, contributing considerably to the value of shares held by investors.

Out of the total investor wealth of about Rs 63.6 lakh crore, the value of shares held by promoters is estimated at over Rs 30 lakh crore. The rest is shared by various investor classes such as mutual funds, foreign investors, insurers, domestic institutions and retail shareholders.