New Delhi, Mar 11 (IANS); Markets rallied on Monday following the announcement of Lok Sabha election schedule and a largely positive global markets. Sensex and Nifty surged over 1 per cent as buying interest was seen across all sectors.

Analysts said that the investor sentiment was upbeat after the declaration of election date and some opinion poll predicting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will return to power after the conclusion of the upcoming general election.

The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 382.67 points or 1.04 per cent at 37,054.10 while the Nifty gained 140 points or 1.28 per cent at 11,176.30.

Except for the export-oriented IT stocks, all the sectoral stocks gained led by PSU Banks, metal and auto stocks.

PSU Banks stocks rose in anticipation of better times post the elections, said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.

"Market rallied followed by the declaration of election date with opinion poll suggesting an edge to the ruling party. Since many stocks are available at cheap valuation, investors rushed to high quality mid and small caps to participate in the pre-election rally," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"Having said that, market is awaiting CPI inflation data tomorrow (Tuesday) and upcoming policy announcements by central banks across the globe to get a clear direction."

The top gainers on Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 8.08 per cent followed by Power Grid, Coal India, Reliance Industries and Vedanta, which surged in the range of 2 to 4 per cent.

Among the laggards were TCS, HCL Tech, NTPC, IndusInd Bank and Infosys, which declined up to 0.50 per cent.