American multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) has upgraded its view on India to “overweight” status on account of increasing probability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s win in the upcoming general elections, reports Reuters.

The firm had downgraded India to “marketweight” status in September (2019), referring to near-term risks related to macro factors and earnings, stretched valuations and election-related uncertainties.

But now, investors are hoping that a second term for the NDA government headed by PM Modi will provide a stable government to the country capable of undertaking bolder economic reforms and more monetary policy easing. “The risk/reward appears favourable for India once again,” said GS analysts in a note.

This upgrade comes only days after India’s national currency Rupee rose to its highest on Tuesday (12 March) in the last two-and-a-half months, buoyed by strong foreign inflows into the equities market on the expectation of PM Narendra Modi’s re-election.

India will go to polls in a seven-phase manner spanning over two months and the results will be announced on 23 May (2019).

Advantage Modi

Also, according to an opinion poll conducted by Times Now and VMR, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity among the electorate jumped seven per cent in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack. In the poll carried out between 5 and 21 February, 52 per cent of the respondents said Narendra Modi had a better roadmap for the country, up by 7.6 per cent from an earlier round in January.

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