~1-trn m-cap club nears half-century 19 companies join in 2021, taking the total to 47 SUNDAR SETHURAMAN IN BIG LEAGUE Adani Enterprises 1.62 , 27 August Select list of new 1.40 entrants to the Power Grid he number of companies with market 1.21 Corporation capitalisation (m-cap) of ~1 trillion or trillion club more has risen to 47 from 28 last year. M-cap (~ trn) 1.13 T Companies that have entered the ~1- NTPC 1.09 trillion club in 2021 include Adani Enterprises, 1.07 BPCL, Dabur, Godrej Consumer, and JSW. All 1.07 the firms in the trillion club last year have man- aged to retain their position. Godrej Consumer 1.06 Market experts said this was a natural con- SBI Cards 1.02 sequence of the sustained gains in the market. BPCL 1.01 Renewed optimism about the domestic eco- Note: Figures as on Aug 26, 2021; Others include Adani Green, nomic outlook following an improvement in Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, , JSW Steel, Tata high-frequency indicators, enthusiastic partici- Motors, and Vedanta Source: Capitaline Compiled by BS Research Bureau pation by domestic institutional and retail inves- tors, and monetary easing by central banks of developed countries have led to gains. Sensex hits new Participation of public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the ~1-trillion club has strengthened all-time high with the re-entry of NTPC and BPCL, and the entry of Powergrid Corporation. On a year-to- date basis (YTD), the BSE PSU index has gained 30.6 per cent against the Sensex’s gain of 17.5 per cent. State (SBI) and ONGC, the other two PSU firms present in the club, have seen a gain in m-cap. SBI’s m-cap has risen 49 The Sensex climbed 175 points to per cent and ONGC’s 24 per cent this year. close above the 56,000-mark for the Analysts attributed the entry of PSU majors first time on Friday, driven by strong in the trillion club to investors looking for value buying in infrastructure, finance, and beaten-down stocks. pharma stocks despite lacklustre global cues. A “There has been bargain buying in PSU strengthening rupee, which surged 53 paise space,” said G Chokkalingam, founder, against the US dollar, further bolstered Equinomics. Some others said it was because of sentiment, traders said. Staging a smart optimism about divestments. Sentiment in rebound after a gap-down opening, the 30- favour of renewables and monetisation of assets share BSE index settled 175.62 points, or 0.31 helped the NTPC and Powergrid stocks. per cent, higher at its new closing peak of Ambareesh Baliga, an independent analyst, 56,124.72. The broader NSE Nifty gained 68.30 said: “Divestments in the last four years were points, or 0.41 per cent, to finish at a record through follow-on offers, and it had created 16,705.20. PTI some pressure in the stock prices.” Turn to Page 13 >

~1-trn m- cap... “Now there is talk of divest- ment favouring strategic investors, who are giving better valuations to PSU majors,” he added. The has the maximum number of compa- nies in the trillion club at five, followed by the (four). TCS, , , and saw a huge rise in their m-cap in absolute terms this year. TCS added ~2.8 trillion, Infosys ~2 trillion, Reliance Industries ~1.7 trillion, and Wipro 1.2 trillion.