FIRST TRADE: Sensex climbs 1,259 points, Nifty leaps 370 pts to 24,278

After the previous session's steep gain, Indian equities opened higher for the second session after the sentiment improves post state election. At the start, Nifty was up 1.55 per cent or 370.25 at 24,277.5, while the Sensex was up 1.59 per cent or 1,259.2 at 80,376.32.

Bank Nifty-the high beta index climbed nearly 2 per cent led by gains in stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank among others.

Sectorally, there was across-the-board buying with Realty and PSU Bank indices leading the gains with upward move of up to 2.8 per cent at the last count.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services pointed that the sharp upswing will continue today assisted by the super NDA performance in Maharashtra. The political message from this election is huge and highly positive from the market perspectivA significant feature of the Friday rally was the sharp spurts in many largecaps with some stocks shooting up by more than 4 per cent. This clearly indicates short covering, which will keep the market resilient today.

Whether the rally will continue beyond a couple of days remains to be seen since the earnings headwinds will continue to constrain the bulls, he added.
 
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said that the GIFT Nifty is off to a roaring start, fuelled by the BJP's landslide victory in Maharashtra, setting the stage for Nifty to potentially scale the psychological 25,000 mark in the near term. The trading range is pegged at 23,800-24,800, with resistance at 24,000 and strong support at 23,000-23,500.

FIIs, who sold Rs 40,947 crores in November, may begin covering shorts as bullish momentum builds, supported by Nifty's close above the 200-DMA and record highs in the Dow, added Tapse.

Asian markets

Asian markets traded in the green as the dollar and bond yields moved downward post the selection of fund manager Scott Bessent as the next U.S. Treasury secretary. The MSCI's broadest index MSCI Asia ex-Japan was up 0.4 per cent at the last count.