How a gritty Indian market has been rallying ahead of Lok Sabha elections

Three of the last four polls have seen a sharp surge at the bourses in the months leading up to the announcement of results. Only 2004 turned out to be an outlier

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices touched six months’ highs on Monday, with overseas investors pumping in close to $4 billion ahead of the general elections. Market participants whom Business Standard spoke to expect the rally to continue, as political uncertainty fades away with a recent opinion poll suggesting that the NDA government has an upper hand in government formation at the moment.

But this isn’t the first time markets have rallied in the run-up to general elections. In fact, a Business Standard analysis of stock market data shows that in three of the last four general elections, the markets