The Indian equity benchmarks gained for third straight session as investor sentiment got a boost after trends indicated that Bharatiya Janata Party retaining power in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, which sends maximum number of MPs to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. BJP was also seen winning elections in Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand while Aam Aadmi Party was seen sweeping Punjab. The Sensex rose as much as 1,595 points and Nifty index touched and intraday high of 16,757.
The Sensex ended with a gain of 817 points or 1.5 per cent to close at 55,464 and Nifty 50 index advanced 250 points or 1.53 per cent to end at 16,595.
"Indian market witnessed a strong recovery after a brutal fall thanks to some positive news flows on the Russia-Ukraine standoff that to rally in global equity markets and cool off in commodity prices. The outcome of state election results also acted as a tailwind for the Indian equity market however it has the impact of only one day and the main focus of the market will remain on the Russia-Ukraine issue because there are still uncertainties. US inflations numbers will be announced today which is likely to come at a five-decade high and it will act as a critical factor in the upcoming US Fed meeting. Markets are likely to remain volatile till the Fed meeting," said Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart
"Technically, Nifty witnessed a smart pullback from the 15,700 level however 16,800-17,000 is a critical supply area that Nifty has to take out for any trend reversal otherwise there is a risk of sell-off after this pullback. On the downside, 16,500-16,400 is an immediate support zone while 16,000/15,500 is the next critical support level. If Nifty manages to take out the 17,000 level then the bulls will be back in the game where 17,300/17,500 are the next resistance levels." Meena added.
Meanwhile, global markets also surged after sharp drop in oil prices eased fears that inflation was about to get worse around the globe.
Trend from counting were indicating that Bharatiya Janata Party was leading on 270 seats in Uttar Pradesh. In Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur BJP was seen returning to power while Aam Aadmi Party was heading for a major victory in Punjab.
Buying was visible across sectors as all the 15 sector gauges, barring the measure of IT shares, ended higher led by the Nifty FMCG index's over 3 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Metal, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty and Consumer Durables indices also rose between 1-2 per cent.
Broader markets also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.91 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1.4 per cent.
Hindustan Unilever was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 5.2 per cent to close at Rs 2,101. Tata Steel, Grasim Industries, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Indian Oil, Indusind Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv and Axis Bank also rose between 3-4 per cent.
On the flipside, Coal India, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs, UPL, ONGC, TCS and Sun Pharma were among the notable losers.
The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,433 shares ended higher while 930 closed lower on the BSE.
