Sensex, Nifty end at record highs, erasing election-day losses

Indian stock markets surged for the third consecutive session on Friday, ending at record levels and erasing losses suffered on election day when the BJP lost its majority in the lower house of Parliament, securing far fewer seats than exit polls had predicted.

The Nifty ended 2.05% higher at 23,290.15, while the Sensex closed up 2.16% at 76,693.36. Both indices were boosted by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upward projection of GDP growth to 7.2% from 7% for 2024-25 and the prospects of political continuity after the BJP-led NDA chose Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the alliance leader.

The Nifty saw its best week since early December, while the Sensex recorded its best week in nearly two years.

The top performers in this session included M&M, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and UltraTech Cement. On the flip side, the notable laggards were SBI Life Insurance and Tata Consumer Products.

All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with auto, IT, power, telecom, and metal up 2-3%.

The BSE midcap index gained 1.2%, while the smallcap index rose 2%.