Sensex, Nifty hit new highs for second day on exit poll hopes

Key benchmark indices on Monday surged over speculation the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be able to form the next government at the centre and that Narendra Modi will become the next Prime Minister of India after the final phase of Lok Sabha elections which concluded in the evening.

The barometer index of the BSE and the 50-unit premium index of NSE hit record high on intraday basis as well as on closing basis. The CNX Nifty of NSE settled at record high above 7,000 level, while the BSE Sensex attained record closing high above 23,000 mark. The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made substantial purchases of Indian stocks on Friday. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 1260.60 crore from the secondary markets on Friday, as per SEBI data. Also, gains in Asian and European stocks too aided the rally on the domestic bourses.

Further, the popular Sensex at BSE garnered 556.77 points or 2.42 per cent, up 542.35 points from the day's low and off 21.88 points from the day's high. The day's rally came on the top of a near 3 percent surge in the key benchmark indices during the previous trading session on Friday last.

The 50-unit CNX Nifty at NSE garnered 155.45 points or 2.27 per cent to settle at 7,014.25, a record closing high for the index. The index hit a high of 7,020.05 in intraday trade, a lifetime high for the index, while the index hit a low of 6,862.90 in intraday trade.