The benchmark index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) - Sensex - closed above the historical 40,000-mark for the first time since in past five months, thereby helping investors recover all the post-budget losses.

The investors' wealth, which suffered massive losses after the government's decision to increase the surcharge on the super rich led to a flight of foreign capital from India, has surged back to the pre-June 4 levels. As of date, the total market cap of all the BSE listed firms stands at Rs 153.39 crore. Though it is still short of its peak of Rs 156 lakh crore, all the losses have been erased, primarily on the back of a surge in the valuations of the bluechip companies.

The Sensex opened 223.79 points up over the Tuesday’s close at 40,055.63 point. It further went up to touch the 40,100 level, and touched an intra-day high of 40,178.12 points. At the close of the trading, the index stood at 40,051.87, up 220.03 points (0.55%).

The last time Sensex closed above the 40,000-mark was on June 4, when it wound up the day's trade at 40,083.54 points.

On the other hand, broader index NSE’s Nifty 50 opened at 11,883.90, up 97 points from the Tuesday’s close. At the end of the day's trade, Nifty was trading at 11,844.10, up 0.49% from Tuesday’s close.

The sentiment in the markets is broadly positive, with 1,385 advances on BSE, against 1,117 declines.