Exit polls cheer: Indian stock market at life-time high; Sensex up over 2,000 points, Nifty above 23,100

Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, zoomed to their life-time highs in opening trade on Monday (June 3), reacting to the Lok Sabha elections 2024 exit polls which predicted a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Sensex, Nifty at record high

The BSE Sensex climbed 2,777.58 points to hit an all-time high of 76,738.89, while Nifty50 too hit its record high of 23,338.70.

Nifty50 rose 3.58 per cent, or 807.20 points to 23,337.70, while Sensex was up 2,621.98 points, or 3.55 per cent at 76,583.30 when the Indian stock market began day’s trade on Monday, the best intraday gains since February.

All the stocks were in the green on the Sensex led by Power Grid, L&T, NTPC, SBI, Axis Bank, M&M, ICICI Bank, and Ultratech Cement. These stocks were up between 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

All 13 major sectors advanced. Financials climbed 3 per cent, while public sector banks surged 4.4 per cent. Energy and oil & gas also gained about 4 per cent each.

The broader, more domestically-focused small- and mid-caps gained about 3 per cent each.

As per a Reuters report, 49 of Nifty50 stocks rose, with Adani Ports and Adani Enterprises jumping 8.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively. They were among the top three gainers on the Index.

At 10:08 IST, Sensex was up 2.78 per cent or 2,055.21 points at 76,016.52, while Nifty50 was 639.60 points or 2.84 per cent higher at 23,170.30.

Along similar lines, Nifty Bank for the first time opened above 50,000.

Earlier in the day, indicating a strong bull run for the equity market, GIFT Nifty surged 850.50 points, or 3.75 per cent to 23,538.50 at the time of opening bell.

Rupee trade

The currency market also has been experiencing a stronger start on the back of stronger equity markets.

In the first trading session of this week, the Indian rupee (INR) opened at 82.99 against the US dollar.

The rupee closed 82.46 against the US dollar on Friday.

Dollar index, which measures greenback against six global currency, slipped 0.04 per cent lower at 104.63.

What Lok Sabha 2024 exit polls have predicted?

On Saturday (June 1), most exit polls projected that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will secure a thumping majority with several of them saying PM Modi’s ‘400 Paar’ target may be true.

A win had been widely expected but, if confirmed in official results that are due on Tuesday (June 4), the margin will be larger than analyst forecasts and seen as a positive for equity markets that have scaled record highs on the back of economic growth.

Will stock market continue to witness the cheer?

“Fundamentals, technical and sentiments turning favourable at the same time is rare in the market. This is what has happened now. The market went into the big event, elections, very light with Nifty correcting around 600 points from the May highs. Profit booking also happened on a large scale. The short position in the market also is high,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

“The GDP numbers which came on Friday was better than expected with 8.2 per cent growth. This will provide fundamental support to the market. S&P’s upward revision of India’s rating outlook also is positive,” Vijayakumar said.

“Following the release of exit poll results, the market surged to a historic peak, reflecting strong investor confidence. Today, this upward momentum is expected to persist, with the market likely maintaining its newfound high,” Narender Singh, smallcase Manager and Founder of Growth Investing, told Firstpost.

“However, tomorrow’s election results could introduce volatility, a common occurrence during such events. If the election outcomes align with the exit polls, the market is anticipated to stabilise around 23,000 levels, and post that it will chart new peaks as sentiments reflects, indicating a degree of resilience among domestic retail investors,” Singh added.