Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate led by American businessman Warren Buffett, has made history by becoming the first U.S. non-tech company to surpass the USD 1 trillion mark in market capitalisation.
The stock price of Berkshire Hathaway surged by USD 3.96 on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at USD 464.59 per share on Wednesday.
With this milestone, Berkshire Hathaway joins an exclusive group of six other companies, primarily from the technology sector, that have crossed the USD 1 trillion threshold. This list includes Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, and Meta Platforms (the parent company of Facebook).
The stocks of Berkshire Hathaway have seen significant growth this year, appreciating by more than 28 per cent on the New York Stock Exchange.
Despite this achievement, the broader U.S. stock markets faced a downturn on Wednesday. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indices declined, largely due to profit-taking by investors.
This market pressure in the U.S. had a ripple effect across Asian markets, where major indices also faced selling pressure on Thursday morning.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index fell by 0.45 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined by 0.55 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted Index emerged as the largest loser among the major Asian markets, dropping by 1.32 per cent.
In the Indian markets on Wednesday, the Nifty 50 index at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) touched a record new lifetime high of 25,114.05 during the trading.
The sectoral stocks of IT contributed the most to the fresh lifetime high of the Nifty. Rate cut hopes in the U.S. and subsequent buying from foreign portfolio investors supported the market.
The sectoral index of IT was trading with a lead of 1.96 per cent, with stocks of major IT companies such as LTIMindtree, Wipro, and Infosys as the biggest gainers in the trade. The stock market opened nearly flat on Wednesday with the Nifty starting above 25,000 and the BSE Sensex opening at 81,800.
Over the past few trading sessions, the Nifty was in a tight range despite positive global cues. “Finally, it has broken through to fresh all-time highs. This opens up possibilities for a strong upmove now. Sector-wise, domestic cyclicals will lead the way while IT is coming back in favour of selective names,” said Ajay Bagga, Market and Banking expert.
