The Indian equity benchmarks held on to gains after 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.
Meanwhile, global markets also surged after sharp drop in oil prices eased fears that inflation was about to get worse around the globe.
As of 12:56 pm, the Sensex was up 946 points or 1.73 per cent at 55,679 and Nifty 50 index climbed 270 points or 1.65 per cent to 16,615.
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 compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Auto and Bank indexes' over 3 per cent gain. Nifty Financial Services, FMCG, Media, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty and Consumer Durable indices also rose between 1.5-3 per cent.
Broader markets were also witnessing buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rose nearly 2 per cent each.
Tata Motors was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6 per cent to Rs 431. Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Maruti Suzuki, Grasim Industries, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Hindustan Unilever also rose between 3-5 per cent.
On the flipside, Coal India, ONGC, Hindalco, ITC and Cipla were among the notable losers.
The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,568 shares were advancing while 320 were declining on the BSE.
