MUMBAI, May 20 — Indian stocks and the rupee soared today as exit polls predicted a second term for business-friendly Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, traders said.

Several polls indicated Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance would win a parliamentary majority after voting concluded yesterday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex index surged more than two per cent in early trading today, while the rupee was trading at 69.49 per dollar, compared with its Friday close of 70.22.

The official count from the seven rounds of voting held over six weeks is to start on Thursday.

The BJP won a landslide victory in 2014 promising a pro-business platform, though its economic record since has been criticised. — AFP