Markets have, of late, developed a certain amount of obstinacy. Some would call it bull-headedness. Or if one prefers, simply a bull market. Like an adamant young person, it takes a lot to steer them off the chosen path. The euphoria post the declaration of the exit poll results on the eve of the last phase of the elections on 1 June, and the subsequent disappointment over the BJP not getting the majority seats on its own, all seem to have been taken by investors in their stride. The Sensex rallied by around 3000 points on the first trading day after the exit polls to mark a then new intra-day high of 76738. The rationale given was that many traders, including the FIIs who had been selling heavily, had turned buyers. The subsequent day, when the actual poll results were way off the exit poll results, the market, after touching an all-time high on 4 June, dropped by as much as 6000 points to an intraday low. Besides the mainline indices, midcap and small-cap indices also dipped, with banks and PSU shares bearing the brunt. Fears were expressed regarding the formation of the cabinet and the way in which the coalition government would function. Headstrong investors, however, remained unrattled and used this rare opportunity to buy heavily, having full faith in their conviction about the long-term prospects. Investors’ conviction and faith were well rewarded as the market steadied itself once Modi announced his unchanged team, reposing faith in his earlier cabinet ministers. In the last fortnight, the markets continued to create record after record as more and more good news poured in. Investors shrugged off the last vestige of uncertainty, and even those who had strayed off the trail got back with a vengeance. On 19 June, the BSE again made a new 52-week high of 77851. Post the hopes, tribulations, and reality check of expectation, the market is now gearing up for the next big event, which is the budget. Many analysts are of the opinion that the markets have again run ahead of expectations. There have been many hints about the Modi Government continuing with the policies as far as infrastructure and capital investments are concerned. Capex and infra push In his very first cabinet meeting, two important announcements were made. One major announcement related to the building of a new major port in Maharashtra. The Rs76,200 crore project at Vadhavan near Palghar, aims to develop a deep all-weather port. The deep draft greenfield port may be developed as a JV between the Maharashtra Maritime Board (26 per cent) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (76 per cent). The execution of the project will be done through a public-private partnership. Besides the announcement for a greenfield port, the first cabinet meeting also cleared two offshore wind energy projects of 500 MW each, one in Gujarat and the other in Tamil Nadu. The total project investment envisaged for these 1 GW projects is around Rs7,000 crore. Another Rs600 crore has been earmarked for the upgradation of two ports.