India equity indices hit peak as final poll results awaited
Markets would be ‘significantly lower’ if NDA gets less seats than expected
Dubai: Indian equity indices hit a record on Monday, but eased later as market participants awaited the final results on Thursday.
Exit polls indicate that the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the 300 mark, about 8 per cent higher than the halfway mark of 272 seats.
Stock market indices hit a record on Tuesday, but witnessed profit-taking later.
“India’s exit polls saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi set for a decisive victory in India’s general election. An impressive victory during a time when unemployment is off the charts and the rural sector continues to struggle. It appears Modi will now be able to move forward on infrastructure investments, assistance for farmers and policies that appeal to Hindu nationalists,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said.
The benchmark Sensex index hit a record of 39,571.73, before closing at 38,969.80, down 0.97 per cent. The Nifty index surged to peak at 11,883.55, closing 1 per cent lower at 11,709.10.
“Market reaction would be significantly different towards the downside if NDA ends up with less than 225 seats.
The markets would be sideways till the results come out. Thursday would be a make-or-break day,” Phaneendar Bhavaraju, managing partner & head of global market strategy at Arrow Capital, DIFC, told Gulf News.
Bhavraju built scenarios that might prevail if the NDA gets more seats.
“The market would have an upside of 8-10 per cent from current levels if the NDA gets more than what exit polls have predicted. All these things would impact the market in the short to medium term, and eventually the global market action would take over,” Bhavraju said.
The Indian rupee extended gains against the dollar for a second session. The Indian rupee was quoted 0.19 per cent higher at 69.716 against the dollar.
Bloomberg said the rupee is likely to outperform Asian peers to reach its highest level in a year as Modi securing a second term would lure more foreign inflows.