It's wild, wild May for Indian stock markets during Lok Sabha elections

So far this month, the market has been relatively tranquil pinning hopes that the BJP will once again come to power

The popular stock market adage ‘sell in May and go away’ hasn’t really worked in the context of the Indian markets. The average return for the month of May since 2011 has been 1 per cent for both the Nifty and the Sensex, rendering the adage inconclusive. However, stock market performance in May has an altogether different meaning in years when there is a general election.

In the past four occasions since 1999, the stock market has witnessed wild swings in May when the nation has gone to the polls. In May 2014, the benchmark indices had risen 8 per cent,