Sensex rises for 2nd day as BJP holds the aces in Assam

Equities jumped for a second straight session as the BSE Sensex rose 120 points to 25,773.61 after investors raised their exposure following exit polls that showed BJP coming to power in Assam for the first time.

A higher closing in other Asian markets and a firm opening in Europe after crude oil prices pushed towards USD 50 a barrel added to the positive sentiment.

Broader markets too joined the bull run as BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices ended 0.19 per cent and 0.13 per cent higher, respectively.

Shares of Sun TV zoomed 9.76 per cent to Rs 431.65 after exit polls gave DMK-Congress alliance a comfortable majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Owner of Sun TV, Kalanithi Maran is considered to be close to top DMK leaders.

Exit polls at the end of polling in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry showed BJP winning Assam elections for the first time.

"Polls also suggest an improvement in BJP's seat tally in West Bengal and Kerala, which is likely to enhance the central government's ability to push through legislative reforms," said Shreyash Devalkar Fund Manager – Equities at BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

However, profit-taking towards the fag-end trimmed most of the session's gains.

The benchmark BSE Sensex resumed higher at 25,756.14, but succumbed on profit-booking at improved levels and slipped to a low of 25,733.76 before ending 120.38 points or 0.47 per cent higher at 25,773.61.

The NSE Nifty after re-testing the crucial 7,900-mark to hit a high of 7,940.10, finally settled 30 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 7,890.75.

Stocks of state-run oil companies such as BPCL, HPCL and Oil India turned buyers fancy and rose by up to 3.66 per cent following a hike in prices of petrol and diesel.

Overseas, Europe edged up on rally in commodity stocks as key indices in France, Germany and the UK rose by 0.21 per cent to 0.67 per cent.

From Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan firmed up by up to 1.65 per cent while China-based shares slipped by 0.2 per cent.

Back home, out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 scrips ended higher.

Major gainers were ONGC (3.72 pc), Axis Bank (3.32 pc), HDFC (2.44 pc), Asian Paints (1.92 pc), Maruti (1.77 pc), M&M (1.75 pc), GAIL (1.17 pc), ICICI Bank (1.00 pc), Hero MotoCorp (0.86 pc), L&T (0.79 pc) and TCS (0.64 pc).

However, NTPC fell by 2.18 per cent followed by HUL (1.38 pc), Adani Ports (1.29 pc) and Tata Motors (0.68 pc).

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, oil&gas rose 1.18 per cent followed by realty (0.79 pc), auto (0.59 pc), capital goods (0.55 pc), finance (0.51 pc), consumer durables (0.49 pc), energy (0.38 pc), IT (0.25 pc) and bankex (0.24 pc) while power fell by (0.39 pc) followed by telecom (0.30 pc) and FMCG (0.16 pc).

The market breadth remained positive as 1,304 stocks ended higher, 1,301 closed lower while 181 ruled steady.

The total turnover rose to Rs 2,673.07 crore from Rs 2,260.38 crore yesterday.