Markets climb high then fall as Modi ensures second term

More than 600 million Indians voted over the last six weeks and now the Narendra Modi-led NDA has secured a majority by leading around 298 seats.

Markets opened on a strong note at 39,591.77 against previous close of 39,110.21 The markets rallied on the result day and met with applause as Sensex crossed the 40,000 mark while Nifty zoomed beyond the 12,000 level. Most of the exit polls had predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is on course to retain power for a second.

The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Thursday and the reason could be pointed to the counting of votes for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections that began across the country. Besides, easing crude prices and a higher opening in domestic equities also sustained the rupee. The partially convertible currency is currently trading at 69.48, stronger by 18 paise from its previous close of 69.66 on Wednesday. However, foreign fund outflows dampened the sentiment of forex traders. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs. 965.02 crore on Wednesday. 

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Mid cap index down 0.06 per cent, while the Small cap index was down by 0.07 per cent. The BSE Sensex closed at 38,811.39 level, down 0.76 per cent and the Nifty50 was at 11,656.05, down 0.69 per cent. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.97 per cent, Capital Goods up by 0.84 per cent and Industrials up by 0.76 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG was down by 1.84per cent, Metal down by 1.64per cent, Consumer Durables down by 0.99 per cent. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 5.30 per cent, Yes Bank up by 2.03per cent, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.01per cent, Coal India up by 1.50per cent and Power Grid up by 1.24per cent. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 5.44 per cent, ITC down by 3.54per cent, HDFC Bank down by 2.42 per cent, Tata Motors down by 1.98per cent and Sun Pharma down by 1.82 per cent were the top losers.