The stock market surged significantly in early trading, buoyed by expectations of political stability as forecasted by exit polls. The 30-share Sensex surged by almost 2,500 points this morning, and the 50-stock Nifty recorded its largest increase in four years at market opening.
Both the Sensex and Nifty, the indices of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) respectively, reached their highest levels today. All stocks in both the Sensex and Nifty are currently showing gains, with Reliance Industries Limited, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank leading as the top contributors.
In pre-market trading, the Nifty surged over 800 points, or 3.58%, to reach 23,227.90, while the Sensex jumped by 2,621.98 points, or 3.55%, to 76,583.29.
An aggregate of 12 exit polls on Saturday predicted that the BJP will return to power, with the ruling NDA alliance expected to secure 365 seats. In India, a party or alliance needs at least 272 seats to form a government. Analysts note that the market typically favors political stability, as a change in government often introduces volatility in the stock market.
The exit polls have also predicted that the BJP is poised to make significant gains in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, and to make substantial gains in Odisha and Bengal in the east. However, it’s important to note that exit polls come with a health warning: they do not always accurately predict the final election results.
While the BJP has welcomed the exit poll predictions, the Opposition has dismissed them, asserting that the picture on counting day will be entirely different. After a meeting of Opposition leaders from the INDIA bloc, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge stated on Saturday that the bloc expects to win at least 295 seats out of the total 543.
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