Sensex ends near record high ahead of election results

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex edged up on Thursday to near the record highs hit earlier this week as blue-chips such as HDFC Bank gained on hopes the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies would win a clear majority when election results are unveiled on Friday.

Counting of votes will start at 0800 India time, and traders estimate a national tally could be determined as early as 1130 India time, although there is no certainty on the timings.

The Nifty has gained 21.8 percent since Sept. 13 when Modi was named as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, with foreign investors buying 826.80 billion rupees ($13.83 billion) worth of stocks during this period.

Indian markets are so confident the opposition party led by Narendra Modi and its National Democratic Alliance coalition will win the country's elections that brokers fear anything short of a decisive victory could spark the worst sell-off in years.

Shares are also showing signs of being technically overbought according to several indicators, with the Nifty ending above a relative strength index of 70 for a fourth consecutive session.

"It is looking a bit stretched after a huge rally but if an NDA-led government comes, then there would be an upside of 8-10 percent upside in the near term and upgrades by FIIs (foreign institutional investors)," said Atul Kumar, equity fund manager at Quantum AMC.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.38 percent, or 90.48 points, to end at 23,905.60, not far from the record high of 24,068.94 on Tuesday.

The broader Nifty rose 0.2 percent, or 14.40 points, to end at 7,123.15, within touch of a record high of 7,172.35 hit on Tuesday.

Domestically-focused shares continued to lead gains on hopes a new government would improve the economy: HDFC Bank Ltd rose 1.7 percent, while ITC Ltd ended higher 0.7 percent.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd gained 0.4 percent, while Axis Bank Ltd rose 1.7 percent.

Tata Steel Ltd gained 1.8 percent after posting January-March net profit that easily beat analyst estimates.

Apollo Tyres jumped 5.8 percent after earlier hitting a record high of 182.90 rupees as company's January-March earnings beat estimates, helped by an improvement in its European operations.

However, Bajaj Auto Ltd , the world's largest maker of three-wheeled vehicles, slumped 4.5 percent after its fourth-quarter net profit missed estimates, as slowing demand at home offset higher revenues from exports.

United Spirits Ltd fell 2.6 percent after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "outperform", citing a lack of immediate triggers.

(Editing by Anand Basu)