LIC reclaims Rs 5 lakh crore market cap; stock hits 52-week high

New Delhi: The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India on Thursday reclaimed market capitalisation of Rs 5 lakh crore-mark after the shares of the company hit a 52-week high on the bourses.

The stock jumped 5.34 percent to close at Rs 785.50 apiece on the BSE. On the NSE, LIC shares climbed 5.25 percent to settle at Rs 785.15 per piece.

With Thursday's jump in LIC shares, the second-largest PSU by market cap, surged another 19 percent this week.

During the day, LIC shares hit a 52-week high of Rs 800 on the NSE and Rs 799.90 BSE, breaching the Rs 5 lakh crore market cap of the state-owned insurer.

On the volume front, 1.55 crore shares were traded on the NSE, while 5.66 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE, during the day.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 132.04 or 0.19 percent lower to settle at 69,521.69 points, while Nifty slipped 36.55 points to 20,901.15.

However, at close, the company's market cap was just short of Rs 5 lakh crore mark at Rs 4.96 lakh crore on the BSE.

According to an analyst, LIC reclaimed its Rs 5 lakh crore market capitalisation on the back of hype around its non-par product Jeevan Utsav.

"We believe that LIC has a strong marketing agency force, while most focus has been on par policies, the agency team is capable of selling non-par policies as well," the analyst said.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)