Exit polls LIVE: BJP ahead in Delhi, Punjab; AAP dark horse

Mumbai: The exit polls have begun to come out.

The CNN-CSDS exit poll has to say this:

Delhi: 7 seats

BJP: 5-7

AAP: 0-2

Punjab: 13 seats

BJP + SAD: 6-9

Congress: 3-5

AAP: 1-3

Voters headed to the polls Monday in the climax of India's marathon election, with frontrunner Narendra Modi seeking a crowning victory in the holy city of Varanasi for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The stock market closed at a second straight record high Monday while the rupee rallied on hopes exit polls will show BJP on track to win the national elections.

Release of the exit polls -- surveys of voters as they leave polling stations -- came after voting booths closed later Monday. Formal election results will be announced on Friday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index Sensex rose 2.51 per cent to hit 23,572.88 points in afternoon trade, surpassing its previous record of 23,048.49 points struck on Friday.

But the Sensex trimmed its intraday gains to finish the day up 2.42 percent at 23,551.00 points -- still another record closing high for the index.

The rupee strengthened to its highest against the US currency in nearly 10 months, touching 59.51 rupees to the dollar, a level last seen in July.

Since the BJP chose Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate last September, Indian shares have been on a bull run.

The Sensex has gained over 19 percent -- a rise described by traders as a vote of confidence in Modi's ability to turn around India's struggling economy.

Stocks have risen more than five percent alone since voting began in early April in the multi-phased parliamentary election.

Analysts, though, note Indian exit polls have sometimes been spectacularly wrong in the past.

Support for the Congress-led coalition government has been undermined by a string of graft scandals, surging inflation and a sharply slowing economy during its decade in power.

Investors are hoping the BJP and its allies will win the 272 seats needed to form a government in the 543-member parliament, and implement structural changes to help lift the economy from decade-low growth.

Analysts said there was a possibility the Sensex could climb to new records in coming days,

"The possibility of the Sensex touching 25,000 is still very much there because there will be reaction to the exit polls tomorrow (Tuesday) and final results on Friday," said Alok Churiwala, head of Churiwala Securities in Mumbai.

But some analysts warn if the BJP and its allies fail to quickly form a coalition government after the final results are announced, the markets could go into a tailspin and lose more than 10 percent.

"The rise has been fast so the dip might also be sharp," said Churiwala.