Pole-vault: Pro-NDA exit polls pump up Indian stock market ahead of June 4 results
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With exit polls predicting a massive win for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections ahead of the June 4 results, and anticipating key economic reforms soon, investors gained over Rs 12.48 trillion from a sharp market rally in early trading on Monday.
Following the huge rally in equities, the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies climbed Rs 12,48,952.68 crore to hit an all-time peak of Rs 4,24,61,833.82 crore (USD 5.10 trillion) during the morning trade.
India’s economy grew by 8.2 percent in the fiscal year ended in March, cementing the country’s position as the fastest-growing major economy in the world.
“The GDP numbers on Friday were better-than-expected with 8.2 percent growth. This will provide fundamental support to the market,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, at Geojit Financial Services.
All the 30 Sensex companies were trading in the green. Power Grid, NTPC, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, and Axis Bank were the biggest gainers from the Sensex pack.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong were quoting with gains while Shanghai traded lower. The US markets ended mostly higher on Friday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,613.24 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
A day before the much-anticipated results, India’s equity benchmarks gained over 3 percent to close at lifetime high levels on Monday. While the BSE Sensex gained 2507.47 points, or 3.39 percent, to close at 76,468.78, the broader Nifty50 gained 733.20 points, or 3.25 percent, to close at 23,263.90.25.
Within the Nifty pack, Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd advanced the most with a gain of 10.62 percent followed by SBI (9.48 pc), NTPC (9.33pc), Power Grid (9.03 pc), and ONGC (7.43pc), while Eicher Motors (1.34pc), LTIMindtree (1.12pc), HCLTech (0.57pc), Sun Pharma (0.32pc) and Asian Paints (0.22pc) were the major laggards.
The rupee jumped to over a two-month high closing level and settled with a gain of 28 paise at 83.14 against the US dollar.
Forex analysts attributed the steep rise in the Indian currency to several positive factors, like strong domestic macroeconomic data, the inflow of foreign funds, and a weak American currency against major Asian rivals.
The lower level of crude oil prices after the OPEC+ grouping decided to maintain the status quo in the oil output also supported the Indian rupee.
On Friday, the rupee declined 13 paise to close at 83.42 against the US dollar.
