Nifty, Sensex Continue To Ride Modi Rally; Utilities, Financials Lead

 Indian shares inched higher on Monday, boosted by gains in utility and financial stocks, as cheer over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return for a second term in office continued to buoy investor sentiment.

Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) witnessed a landslide victory in the general election results on Thursday and markets have been jubilant over hopes that the prime minister would pursue business-friendly policies.

"We have a new government and we are seeing stock specific rally. There will be sectors which are likely to outperform and markets are now waiting for a new policy," said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital in Mumbai.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.35% at 11885.75 as of 0500 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading 0.42% higher at 39601.55.

Shares of NTPC Ltd and Yes Bank Ltd were up over 4.5% each, while Power Grid Corporation India was trading nearly 2% higher.

Industrial conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, which started a hostile takeover bid for Bengaluru-based IT firm Mindtree Ltd in March, was among the top five gainers on the NSE index. The company on Friday increased its stake in Mindtree to over 28%.

Shares of Interglobe Aviation Ltd rose as much 1.9% to 1,653 rupees. Interglobe is scheduled to post quarterly results later in the day.

JSW Steel and Bharti Airtel were among the major losers, both inching nearly 2% lower.

(Reuters)