A day after the poll results, bulls were back in action with the benchmark indices registering strong gains to close at record levels amidst an across the board rally.
The 30-share Sensex gained 623.33 points or 1.61% to close at a new high of 39,434.72. This is only the third time that the benchmark has closed above the psychological 39,000-mark.
Further, the Sensex pack saw 26 stocks gaining ground with ICICI Bank, L&T, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Infosys contributing significantly to the upswing.
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The upbeat investor sentiment was further corroborated by the strong market breadth that saw more than 1,800 stocks gain ground on the BSE, as against 699 declines. Incidentally, the broader indices such as BSE Smallcap and BSE Midcap outperformed the benchmark by gaining more than 2% each.
Meanwhile, the 50-share Nifty gained 187.05 points or 1.60% to close at a new high of 11,844.10. The India VIX index continued its downward journey, shedding more than 15% on Friday. The volatility index fell nearly 30% on Thursday.
Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said that the equity indices closed at record levels on Friday as the strong mandate for the BJP-led NDA government was interpreted positively by market participants, who believe that economic reforms would be decisively implemented.
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Interestingly, while most of the banking majors were among the top gainers in the benchmark indices, the BSE Bankex closed above the 35,000-mark for the first time ever at a new high of 35,199, up 938 points.
The last few trading sessions have also seen a mixed trend from foreign investors, who were mostly sellers in the earlier part of the current month. As per provisional data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers at ₹2,026 crore on Friday.
In the current month, however, FPIs are net sellers at ₹2,048 crore though the net quantum of sale has been on the decline given the buying activity of overseas investors.