Mumbai, May 16 (IANS): Majority companies in the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rallied as the 16th Lok Sabha election vote count showed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in lead to form the next government.
Around 11.50 a.m., the Sensex was ruling at 24,760.92 points after touching the highest ever mark of 25,375.63 points in the early trade, up 855.32 points, or 3.58 percent from its previous day's close at 23,905.60 points.
Analysts said the markets were afire expecting a stable government under BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is also seen as a industry-friendly leader. Every industry-specific index was trading at record highs, exchange data showed.
The 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also surged in a similar fashion. It gained 268.75 points or 3.77 percent and was trading at 7,391.90 points after crossing 7,400 points in the early trade.
The top gainers at the Sensex were: Sesa Sterlite, up 10.52 percent at Rs.213.80; ICICI Bank, up 7.96 percent at Rs.1,504; Axis Bank, up 6.97 points at Rs.1,779.65; State Bank of India (SBI), up 6.91 percent at Rs.2,436.50; and Coal India, up 6.13 percent at Rs.361.60.
Other gainers included: HDFC Bank, up 5.89 percent at Rs.834.50; Bharti Airtel, up 5.64 percent at Rs.339.70; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), 5.20 percent at Rs.1,449; and Reliance Industries, 5.17 percent at Rs.1,107.60.
Losers included; Dr. Reddy's Lab, down 2.44 percent at Rs.2,421.55; Hindustan Unilever, down 1.11 percent at Rs.581.80; Infosys, up 0.87 percent at Rs.3,242.05; Wipro, down 0.67 percent at Rs.512.90; Cipla, down 0.19 percent at Rs.397.30.