By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares surged to record highs on Monday, led by financials and energy stocks, after exit polls over the weekend projected a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the recently-concluded general elections.
The NSE Nifty 50 was up 2.77% at 23,157.15 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 2.70% to 75,976.84 points, as of 10:02 a.m. IST.
Both indexes opened more than 3.5% higher, hitting record high levels and logging their best intraday gains since Feb. 1, 2021.
All 13 major sectors advanced. Financials climbed 3% to high a record high, while public sector banks surged 4.4%. Energy and oil & gas also gained about 4% each.
The broader, more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps gained about 2.7% each.
Exit polls released on Saturday projected the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance will likely get a two-thirds majority in the 543-member lower house.
“The prospects of unobstructed functioning of the parliament in the third term of Modi government has led to excitement in the markets,” said Deven Choksey, managing director of DRChoksey FinServ.
Data on Friday, which showed the economy grew a better-than-expected 7.8% in the January-March quarter, also helped sentiment, according to analysts.
The fundamentals, technicals and sentiments turning favourable at the same time is a rare event in markets, which is what has happened now, said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Forty-nine of Nifty 50 stocks rose, with Adani Ports and Adani Enterprises jumping 11.5% and 9%, respectively. They were the top two gainers on the Index.
“India’s capex story and manufacturing theme should continue,” said analysts at Bernstein, adding that a greater margin of victory for the ruling National Democratic Alliance could increase the magnitude of the market rally.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Mumbai; Editing by Varun H K)
