The benchmark indices opended at new lifetime peaks on Monday morning after the exit poll results predicted a massive victory for the BJP-led NDA and a third term for Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
The Sensex soared to a record high of 76,738.89 after going up 2,778 points or 4 per cent. Nifty 50 zoomed to fresh high of 23,338.70 after climbing 808 points, or nearly 4 per cent.
All the 30 companies in the Sensex basket were trading in the green. The biggest gainers were Power Grid, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra.
The average of 12 exit polls shows that the NDA is likely to claim victory in around 366 seats, which is way ahead of the 272 mark. With the prediction of a stable government and policy continuation, the investor confidence is at a high.
Besides the exit poll, a strong GDP data released on last week also pushed the market up on Monday. The country's economy grew by 8.2 per cent in FY24. The finance ministry on Saturday announced that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew 10 per cent to Rs 1.73 lakh crore last month driven by an increase in domestic transactions, indicating a sustained economic momentum.
Other events to watch for during the remainder of the week are vote counting on Tuesday and RBI interest rate decision on Friday.
The rupee strengthened 0.48 per cent to 83.08 per US dollar with the support of broad-based interbank dollar sales following the exit polls and macroeconomic data.
