NEW DELHI: Headline indices Sensex and Nifty opened with healthy gains on Monday even as Asian peers reflected sombre mood on concerns over the health of global economy.Sensex jumped 250 points, a day after the Election Commission of India announced the dates for general elections 2019.
Analysts say while Asian markets are down after US payrolls shock, Indian market is witnessing a pre-election rally.Market appears to be cheering the improved prospects of Narendra Modi-led government coming back to power after the general elections 2019.
The latest CVoter pre-poll survey of March 2019 for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections has predicted the BJP-led NDA falling just short of the majority mark of 272, winning 264 seats.The Indian general elections will be held in seven phases across 543 parliamentary constituencies starting exactly a month from now on April 11 till May 19, the Election Commission (ECI) announced on Sunday.
The results will be out on May 23.If history is any guide, the risk-reward ratio may be turning favourable for investors to increase their bets on equities in March and April, thanks to a strong positive seasonality effect.
The Nifty 50 has posted positive returns averaging 6.1 per cent in March and April in eight of the past 10 years, according to data compiled by IDFC Securities.The Indian market has been witnessing healthy FPI inflow of late.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Rs 1,095 crore worth of domestic stocks on Friday, data available with NSE suggested.Around 9:25 am, the BSE Sensex was 230 points, or 0.63 per cent, up at 36,902, while Nifty was 76 points, or 0.69 per cent, up at 11,111.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were 0.68 per cent and 0.73 per cent up, respectively, at that time.In the Sensex kitty, only three stocks - NTPC (down 0.46 per cent), ITC (down 0.15 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (down 0.06 per cent) - were down.ONGC, with gains of over 2 per cent, was leading the pack of Sensex gainers.
It was followed by Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, State Bank of India, Vedanta and Reliance Industries, rising over 1 per cent each.All sectoral indices on BSE were in the green, with telecom, auto, consumer durables, oil gas and energy among the top gainers.
Gains in shares of Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Sterlite Technologies gave a leg up to the telecom index.