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The markets have registered modest gains on the first session post the elections result. The Sensex has extended the positive run of Friday and is now quoting at 24,305, higher by 183 points and the Nifty is at 7245, up 42 points. The midcap index is at 7899, higher by 133 points and the smallcap index is at 8041, up 155 points. The Bank Nifty has hardened by 1.3% or 288 points at 15,141.
The Sensex had touched an in intra-day high of 24,427 in early trades, but has shed some of its strength as weakness in IT and FMCG pack have negated the gains in banking space.
The Sensex and Nifty had crossed the 25,000 and 7,400 levels respectively on May 16 as the BJP vaulted to its highest seat tally ever and the Congress plummeted to its lowest in post-Independent India. The markets did succumb to partial profit-booking in what was possibly a case of buy-on-rumours (pre-verdict) and sell-on-news (result day) to end closer to the 7200 levels on the Nifty, but have bounced back from thereon in the current session.
The rupee is also mirroring the feel-good sentiment prevalent on Dalal Street. The currency has touched a fresh 11-month high in early trade; it opened at 58.55 a dollar - the highest level since June 18, 2013 - up 24 paise compared to Friday's closing value of 58.79 a dollar.
The global front has also been calm. The Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday. The Nikkei was marginally up 0.1%, Shanghai Composite was down 1% while Hang Seng slipped 0.3% while Straits Times was trading 0.1% higher.
The US stocks had ended higher on Friday amid a volatile trading session with telecom and retailers leading the gains. The Dow ended up 0.3% at 16,491, S&P 500 ended up 0.4% at 1,878 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 0.5% at 4,091.
Stocks Corner
Power and banking stocks are having a good day. Tata Power has strengthened by 3.8% at Rs 94 and NTPC has gained 3% at Rs 135.In the banking space, SBI has gaine d2.9% at Rs 2485, HDFC has gained 2.6% at Rs 909 and Axis Bank has gained 2.6% at Rs 1803. Index heavyweight RIL has added 1.9% at Rs 1101.\
Power and banking stocks are having a good day. Tata Power has strengthened by 3.8% at Rs 94 and NTPC has gained 3% at Rs 135.In the banking space, SBI has gaine d2.9% at Rs 2485, HDFC has gained 2.6% at Rs 909 and Axis Bank has gained 2.6% at Rs 1803. Index heavyweight RIL has added 1.9% at Rs 1101.\
The defensive bets such as IT and FMCG are having a rough ride this morning. Infosys has weakened by 2.8% at Rs 3088, Wipro has shed 2.5% at Rs 490 and TCS has lost 2.2% at Rs 2109. In the FMCG space, ITC has shed 1.5% at Rs 351 and Hindustan Unilever has shed 1.2% at Rs 573.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 1420 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1042 advancing stocks as against 324 declines.
