Over 2,600 points up! Sensex, Nifty surge to record highs
What's the story
On Monday, Indian equity benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and Sensex, opened at record highs. The Nifty rose by 3.5% or 800 points to reach 23,337, while the Sensex surged by 3.55% or over 2,600 points to hit 76,583 points. Nifty Bank also opened above 50,000 for the first time ever after exit polls suggested a return for the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government. In the currency market, the Indian rupee opened stronger against the US dollar.
Election impact
Exit polls boost market optimism, predict strong BJP return
Exit polls conducted on Saturday predicted a strong return for PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government, which has boosted market optimism. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, stated that the exit poll results "completely removes the so-called election jitters which have been weighing on markets in May." He added that this prediction is expected to "trigger a big rally in the market."
Future outlook
Market anticipates positive impact from upcoming events
The equity market's performance this week is expected to be influenced by two major events: the general elections result due on June 4 and the RBI interest rate decision to be announced on June 7. Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart, stated that "the market is approaching the event with caution, and the positive surprise from exit polls can lead to a rally." He further noted that most exit polls are predicting over 350 seats for the NDA.
Global perspective
International markets remain steady ahead of June trading
In international markets, US stock futures remained steady ahead of the first trading day in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 574.84 points to 38,686.62 while NASDAQ Composite closed slightly lower by 2.06 points at 16,735.01. Wall Street had a strong performance in May with the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite rising by 6.9%, marking its best month since November 2023.