The election results, which are likely to be in line with the exit polls, lead to a massive win for the National Democratic Alliance, giving it a second shot at improving India’s economic conditions. “The rupee has benefited with the indications from today’s general election and we expect this to continue in the near-term. However, the extent of rupee optimism on the back of the election should be somewhat kept in perspective,” said Pranjul Bhandari, chief economist, India, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets. “We would expect FX policy to smooth the rupee’s appreciation pressure and to absorb some forthcoming portfolio inflows,” she said.

• The Indian rupee appreciated this week by 0.69 paisa gain compared with the previous week close.
• Last week Indian rupee closed at ₹70.22 with an aggregate loss of 0.31 paisa.
• This week on Friday rupee closed at ₹69.53 with gain of 0.48 paisa against the US dollar.
• Highest gain 0.48 paisa on Friday and Highest loss 0.35 paisa on Thursday.