Sensex, Nifty50 surge almost 1%; exit polls uplift sentiments

Mumbai:Cheering the Gujarat exit polls, the key Indian equity indices extended gains for the second consecutive session and traded on a higher note on Friday.

On the BSE market breadth, healthy buying was observed in all the sub-indices during the mid-afternoon session, with the upward rally given a boost by index heavyweights like Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, and Larsen and Toubro among others.

Around 12.45 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded higher by 102.40 points or 1 per cent at 10,354.50 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 33,456.02 points, traded at 33,556.09 points -- up 309.39 points or 0.93 per cent -- from its previous close.

The Sensex touched a high of 33,621.96 points and a low of 33,456.02 points during the intra-day trade so far.

However, the BSE market breadth was bearish -- 1,572 declines and 1,049 advances.

"Dalal Street cheers with exit polls results as BJP is very likely to sweep and continue winning in Gujarat, and wrest a win from Congress and form government in Himachal Pradesh, too," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

On Thursday, short covering, along with positive hopes of the ruling BJP's win in the crucial two-phased Gujarat assembly elections, erased the day's entire losses and lifted the indices to close in the green.

The NSE Nifty50 edged higher by 59.15 points or 0.58 per cent to close at 10,252.10 points, while the BSE Sensex closed at 33,246.70 points -- up 193.66 points or 0.59 per cent.