LIC Becomes Fifth Most Valuable Firm As Stocks Soar

Shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India jumped more than 6 per cent on Thursday, with its market valuation climbing to Rs 6.99 lakh crore, making the firm the fifth most valued company.

The stock climbed 5.86% to settle at Rs 1,106.25 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it zoomed 9.51% to hit its record high of Rs 1,144.45.

On the NSE, it jumped 6.46% to Rs 1,112 a share.

The company's market valuation went up by Rs 38,740.62 crore to Rs 6,99,702.87 crore. With this, the company became the fifth most valued firm by market capitalisation (mcap), beating ICICI Bank.

Taking into account the record high of Rs 1,144.45 per share, the company's market valuation reached Rs 7.23 lakh crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the opposition spread rumours about LIC, but today its shares are trading at record-high prices.

Reliance Industries is the country's most valued firm with a market valuation of Rs 19,64,044.94 crore, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 15,13,218.99 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 10,66,150.51 crore), Infosys (Rs 7,02,754.66 crore) and LIC (Rs 6,99,702.87 crore).

Last month, LIC surpassed State Bank of India (SBI) to become the country's most-valued PSU firm by market valuation.

The country's largest insurer was listed in May 2022. The government had sold over 22.13 crore shares, or a 3.5% stake in LIC, through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The government holds a 96.5% stake in the company.

The share price of LIC on Monday jumped nearly 6% to hit the Rs 1,000 mark for the first time.

So far this year, the stock has jumped nearly 33%.