Stocks hold on to BJP's poll win, hit life high

Investors put their money where their mouth is as key stock indices Sensex and Nifty hit it big with new closing peaks today, latching on to the BJP's electoral victory in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Auto and consumer durable stocks drove the show.
"Euphoria from election verdict and progress in US tax cut fuelled the market to rally near the all-time high... A strengthening rupee and positive global cues will continue to attract domestic liquidity," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Rising for the fourth straight session, the 30-share Sensex hit 33,836.74 -- a fresh closing high -- with a gain of 235.06 points, or 0.70 per cent. It had risen 548.64 points in the last three sessions.

The previous closing high was on November 6 at 33,731.19.
At 10,463.20, it was a life high at the close for the 50 -share Nifty too, which advanced 74.45 points, or 0.72 per cent. Its previous record of 10,452.50 was hit on November 3.

Risk appetite grew as the BJP got down to forming government in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The rupee climbing to an over three-month high against the dollar during the day came as a morale booster.
While Asian shares were mixed, Europe opened higher after a record-setting session on Wall Street on bets that US lawmakers would pass the sweeping tax legislation.

India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki was in top gear, with a maximum rise of 5.33 per cent. Other auto stocks were also in demand.
NTPC, ONGC, ICICI Bank, HUL and PowerGrid ended in the green.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel was up 1.95 per cent after it signed an agreement with Millicom International Cellular SA to acquire 100 per cent in its Rwandan operations.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,076.81 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 431.77 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.
On the sectoral front, barring the IT index, all others ended the day with gains.

Small and mid cap indices beat the key barometers on expectations of improvement in rural demand on the back of continued government reforms, said analysts. These surged up to 1.51 per cent.
Sugar stocks hit pay dirt and rallied up to 13.04 per cent.