Massive! Nifty hits record high, goes past 12,000 mark for first time on Lok Sabha election counting day

In what is a historic day for the Indian markets, both Sensex and Nifty surged to record high on Thursday morning as early trends suggested a clear win for BJP-led NDA in Lok Sabha elections 2019. Sensex opened around 463 points higher from Tuesday, while Nifty opened 143.80 points higher before breaching the 12,000 mark for the first time ever. Investor sentiment has been buoyant since exit polls were announced on Sunday, with both the Nifty and the Sensex gaining 3.7% each the next session, a level last seen in 2014. 

"We absolutely believe Nifty will cross 12,000 if NDA manages to secure a majority," Amit Gupta, chief executive of brokerage firm TradingBells had said earlier. "However if this doesn`t happen and there is a hung parliament, or UPA comes into power, we can expect to see a huge correction, downside movement up to 10,450."

According to traders, investor sentiment was boosted by initial trends that suggested a win for the ruling NDA. Amid market euphoria, the rupee also appreciated 26 paise to 69.40 against the US dollar in opening trade. In the previous session, the Sensex ended 140.41 points, or 0.36 per cent, higher at 39,110.21; and the broader NSE Nifty rose 28.80 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 11,737.90.

Top Sensex gainers in morning trade include IndusInd Bank, SBI, L&T, PowerGrid, Yes Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, RIL, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank, rallying up to 7 per cent. While, Vedanta, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma slipped up to 1.92 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold equity worth Rs 965.02 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares to the tune of Rs 157.75 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in China, Japan and Korea were trading on a negative note in their respective early sessions. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at 70.58 per barrel, lower by 0.58 per cent.