Sensex rallies 550 points as BJP leads convincingly in vote counting

India's stock markets rallied as vote counting got underway this morning. The Sensex surged 550 points as investors hopes' of a BJP re-election looked more and more close to being fulfilled.

As things currently stand, the BJP is leading in 288 out of 542 constituencies, while its main rival, the Congress, is only leading in 50 seats, according to the Election Commission website.

Earlier this week, the Sensex clocked its highest one-day gain in 10 years as Indian markets celebrated the results of exit polls. The Sensex and Nifty both closed nearly 4% higher or over 1400 points and 400 points, respectively. The major gainers included SBI, Yes Bank and L&T. This was the indices’ highest one-day gain since 2009.

All exit polls pointed to a return of the BJP-led National Democractic Alliance (NDA) administration. The overall tally for the NDA is pegged at between 287 and 365 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, translating into a comfortable majority for the ruling government.

Some of the polls also suggested that the BJP’s main national rival, the Congress, would fail to breach the 100-seat mark owing to losses in the Hindi heartland.