High voter turnout in 4th phase, hopes of PM Modi coming back support India stocks; Sensex jumps 2,000 pts this week

New Delhi [India], May 17 : After a volatile start to the session, Indian stock indices signed off this week's trade on a positive note, supported by strong support from a majority of sectoral indices. With the fourth phase of elections now behind us, it is widely expected by investors that the Narendra Modi-led government will come back to office with a comfortable margin for his third term. This also likely triggered fresh stock buying.
Softer-than-expected US consumer inflation in April and a consistent moderation in inflation in India and the sooner-than-normal arrival of the southwest monsoon in India, as predicted by IMD, mainly buoyed Indian stocks on Friday. The southwest monsoon is likely to hit Kerala on May 31, a day before the normal date of June 1.
At the closing bell, Sensex was at 73,917.03 points, up 253.31 points or 0.34 per cent, and Nifty was at 22,466.10 points, up 62.25 points or 0.28 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty auto, Nifty media, Nifty metal, Nifty realty, and Nifty consumer durables were the top movers, NSE data showed.
During the week, Sensex jumped about 2,000 points, on a cumulative basis, this week.
"Despite mixed global signals and uncertainties surrounding the US Fed, the Indian market experienced a robust recovery, largely fuelled by the outperformance of the broader market and positive Q4 earnings. Further, some index heavyweight earnings surpassed expectations, and midcap and small-cap stocks continued to exhibit buying interest during dips. Auto and consumer durables particularly stood out with strong earnings momentum,"said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Firm GDP growth forecasts with the country set to remain the fastest growing major economy, inflation at manageable levels, political stability at the central government level, and appreciable central bank monetary policy, have all contributed to painting a bright picture for the Indian economy in recent quarters.
Last week, the benchmark stock indices had slumped consistently, which analysts asserted was due to a strong US dollar, uncertainty in the Lok Sabha elections outcome after a decreasing voter turnout trend seen so far in the phases that went to vote, and a profit booking after the recent rally.
Overseas investors have been remaining net sellers of Indian equities for the past several sessions. However, domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers for over a fortnight now, making up for the outflows by the foreign investors.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian stocks lately. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who continued to remain net buyers for the third month until mid-April, have cumulatively sold stocks worth Rs 8,671 crore during the month, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed. So far in May, they have sold stocks worth Rs 28,242 crore.