Indian stocks jumped on Friday after exit polls predicted victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The official results will be known only on December 18 after counting is over, but the exit polls showed an unprecedented expansion of BJP's national electoral footprint and a body blow to Rahul Gandhi, the imminent political heir apparent to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.
At 0630 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.81 percent at 33,514 while the broader NSE Nifty gained 0.86 percent to 10,340.
Among the top Sensex gainers, Mahindra and Mahindra rose 2.4 percent, Bajaj Auto gained 2.3 percent, Adani Ports advanced 2.1 percent while HDFC Bank was up 2 percent.
Banking stocks traded higher. Bank of India rose 3.8 percent, Indian Bank 2.7 percent, HDFC Bank 2.6 percent, Syndicate Bank 2.5 percent and Oriental Bank of Commerce 2.4 percent.
Astrazeneca Pharma India jumped 3.4 percent after the company said it got a nod for its diabetes drug import.
But the shares of Shalby made a weak market debut. The group, which runs a multi-specialty hospital chain, was listed at Rs 237 per share compared to the issue price of Rs248.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
Asian shares edged lower, tracking Wall Street overnight amidst concerns about the progress of U.S. tax reform.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5 percent, but poised to gain 0.7 percent for the week.
