Mkt volatility peaks despite hope in Modi's win

DESPITE increased volatility in the stock market over concerns related to the general election outcome that is due on June 4, most brokerages continue to view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will comfortably form the central government for the third straight time.

-  ARSHAD KHAN

"Amid concerns over policy continuity, we expect the BJP to comfortably retain its majority in the ongoing Lok Sabha general elections... Based on our assessment of major states on Pan India basis, we see a net incremental loss of 4 seats to 299 for BJP in our base case while our bear and bull case seat tally is in a narrow range of 290 to I 310," said analysts at JM Financials on Tuesday.

The volatility index, India VIX, rose over 5% intraday on Tuesday to hit a fresh two-year high of 24.48. The index, which measures the market's expectation of volatility in the next 30 days, has been going up since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections took off last month.