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Benchmark share indices came off their record highs as investors booked profits after the Sensex topped 24,000 and the Nifty topped the 7,150 levels in intra-day trades today.
At 2:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 339 points at 23,890 after hitting a record high of 24,069 and the 50-share Nifty was up 104 points at 7,118 after touching a record high of 7,172.35.
The Indian rupee also gained sharply against the dollar after exit polls showed that the BJP-led NDA would form the government at the centre. Further, the sharp gains in equities and foreign fund inflows also helped improve sentiment. The rupee was trading higher at Rs 59.84 against the previous close of Rs 60.05.
Asian markets were trading higher, shrugging off the events in Ukraine, tracking overnight gains in the US stock markets which saw both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 ending at record highs. Further, sharp gains in Indian equities with the reform-oriented BJP-led NDA set to form the government also helped improve sentiment. The Nikkei ended up nearly 2%, Hang Seng gained 0.4% while Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%.
Power and Consumer Durables indices were up over 3% each leading the sectoral indices on the BSE. Other gainers include, Bankex, Realty, Oil and Gas, Metal, Auto, FMCG and IT indices up 1.2-2.8% each.
Gains were led by capital goods, IT, oil and gas shares
Capital goods shares were up on hopes that the reform-oriented BJP-led NDA would unveil the reform process that would ultimately lead to new order inflows. L&T was up 2.3% after rising over 3% in early trades and BHEL was up 10% at Rs 218.
Among the index heavyweights Reliance Ind was up 1.7% after rising over 2% in early trades, Infosys gained 2.4% to Rs 3,254, ONGC was up 4.3% at Rs 374. ITC which was trading lower firmed up and was trading 1.4% higher at Rs 364.
Financials continue to edge hire on hopes that credit growth would pick up after the BJP-led NDA forms the government. SBI and HDFC were up 1.6-2% each. Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were up 0.3-0.9% each.
Auto shares were also among the top gainers led by Hero MotoCorp up 3.4% followed by Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors.
Among other shares, Bank of Baroda gained nearly 5% at Rs 878 after the public sector bank announced a healthy set of Q4 numbers. The bank reported an uptick of 12.5% in its net profit of Rs 1,157 crore compared to Rs 1,028 crore in the year ago quarter.
Punjab National Bank was down 3% at Rs 809 after it today reported a 28.69% decline in net profit at Rs 806.35 crore for the quarter ended March 31, mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans. The bank had a net profit of Rs 1,130.80 crore in the January-March quarter of 2012-13.
Drug firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 3.4% at Rs 2,626 afte it reported a 15.5% drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 481.6 crore for the quarter ended March 2014. It Was Rs 571 crore in the same period a year ago. The company announced a dividend of Rs 18 per share.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 1.3% each.
Market breadth was strong with 1,500 gainers and 1,310 losers on the BSE.
