A trader in a Mumbai stock broker’s office, reacts to the stock prices in the BSE sensitive Index. File phpoto
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty hit their fresh all-time peaks in early trade on Friday, May 24, 2024, amid buoyant investors’ sentiment days ahead of the results of the Lok Sabha polls announcement and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 164.24 points to hit its all-time high of 75,582.28 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 36.4 points to breach the 23,000 mark for the first time ever. It hit its lifetime peak of 23,004.05.

From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti and JSW Steel were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday after days of offloading equities. They bought equities worth ₹4,670.95 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The results of the ongoing general elections will be declared on June 4.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

Wall Street ended in negative territory on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.05 per cent to USD 81.40 a barrel.

“Yesterday, Nifty neared the 23,000 mark, driven by investor optimism about the current regime’s continuation in the upcoming general elections,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

With nearly a fortnight left for the results of Lok Sabha polls, benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty zoomed more than 1.6 per cent to close at lifetime high levels on Thursday.

Regaining the 75,000 level, the BSE Sensex ended at an all-time peak of 75,418.04, up by 1,196.98 points or 1.61 per cent. The NSE Nifty inched closer to the 23,000 mark during the day on Thursday. The 50-issue index went up by 369.85 points or 1.64 per cent to 22,967.65.

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that the ruling party won’t get more than 230 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at Aam Aadmi Party’s headquarters in Delhi a day after his release on interim bail, Mr Kejriwal also claimed that the opposition INDIA bloc will win the elections and the AAP will be part of the next government at the Centre.

“In the last 20 hours after release from jail, I talked to poll experts and people, and got to know the BJP is not going to form the government,” he said.

Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP’s Lok Sabha seats will decrease in Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. “Their seats won’t increase in any state,” he said.

“It is my analysis and even political analysts are saying that the BJP won’t get more than 220-230 seats. The Modi government is not being formed on June 4,” Mr Kejriwal added.

#ElectionsWithNDTV | “BJP won’t cross 220-230 seats”: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal#LokSabhaElections2024pic.twitter.com/r9dRe95uOI

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 11, 2024

#ElectionsWithNDTV | “INDIA Alliance Government Will Be Formed At The Centre”: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal#LokSabhaElections2024pic.twitter.com/lNVHb5Kq11

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 11, 2024

He also promised that full statehood would be provided to Delhi when the INDIA bloc government will be formed.

Responding to Mr Kejriwal’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “When the AAP leader is giving so many seats to his party despite being so full of hate for it, it means the ruling alliance can fetch around double the tally predicted by him.”

“PM Modi Will Retire Next Year”

Arvind Kejriwal said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking for votes for Amit Shah, claiming the Union Home Minister will be his successor after he “retires” on turning 75.

“These people (BJP leaders) ask the INDIA bloc about their (PM) face. I am asking the BJP who will be their PM. Modi Ji is turning 75 on September 17 next year. He had made the rule that people aged 75 would be retired. They retired LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Sumitra Mahajan,” he told the AAP supporters.

“Modi will retire next year. He is seeking votes for making Amit Shah the prime minister. Will Shah fulfill Modiji’s guarantee?” he asked.

आप सब लोगों के बीच वापस लौट कर मुझे बेहद ख़ुशी हो रही है। हमें मिलकर अपने देश को तानाशाही से बचाना है, मैं अपनी पूरी ताक़त से लड़ूँगा, मुझे देश के 140 करोड़ लोगों का समर्थन चाहिए। https://t.co/QbUWA5dBHF

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 11, 2024

Mr Kejriwal also claimed that if the BJP wins the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, all opposition leaders including Mamata Banerjee, Tejashvi Yadav, MK Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan and Uddhav Thackeray, will be jailed.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted Mr Kejriwal interim bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. The Supreme Court has asked him to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll is scheduled to get over.