Indian Stock Market Joins the Trillion Dollar Club

May 2007 will go down in history as the month of trillions –
after the trillion dollar mark touched by India’s GDP, and then the net worth of NRIs, it is now the turn of the Indian stock market to do so.

On 29th May, India’s bourses joined China and Russia as the third emerging market in Asia to cross USD 1 trillion in value. The BSE Sensex rose by 0.8%, hitting Rs. 14,508.21, a notch below its February 8 record.

The Indian rupee has been the star performer against the dollar
this year amongst Asian currencies. The steady rupee and overseas
investments have been instrumental in getting the stock market
to achieve the feat of USD 1.01 trillion.

Average growth rates of 8.6% over the last 4 years and overseas
funds purchasing equities worth USD 3.76 billion have supported
the stock market. Industry has performed at an 11% rate, registering
unparalleled profits.

The stocks of Hindalco Indutries, Bharti
Airtel and Reliance Industries have multiplied several fold over
the last year.

Rated against its performance in 2006, the Sensex, a 30-member
Sensitive Index, climbed up by 34%, while the rupee gained by
12%, closing at Rs. 40.49 to the dollar on May 29, 2007, the
highest since May 1998.
As ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and DLF sell their shares this month,
stock markets would leap by almost USD 10 billion.

Of this, USD
5 billion would come from ICICI Bank’s
share sale, while DLF will offload USD 2.1 billion of stock .