The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies hit a record high of Rs 429.32 lakh crore on Wednesday as the BSE benchmark Sensex ended higher amid a largely positive trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 149.98 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 76,606.57. During the day, it jumped 593.94 points or 0.77 per cent to 77,050.53. The BSE benchmark is just 28.51 points away from breaching its previous lifetime peak of 77,079.04.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 4,29,32,991.65 crore (USD 5.14 trillion) -- its lifetime high.

The Sensex was on the back foot for the past two trading sessions.

Power Grid was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.54 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Technologies.

In contrast, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys and Titan were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai settled in the positive territory, while Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly with gains. US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.07 per cent and smallcap index climbed 1.06 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, industrials, power, capital goods, energy, commodities, healthcare and metal were among the biggest gainers.

On the other hand, realty and FMCG were the laggards.

"Markets failed to capitalise on its firm start but eked out modest gains on select buying support, as cautioned prevailed amongst investors ahead of US policy rate meeting later in the day," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

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