Business Optimism Index (BOI), which is used to measure the pulse of the business community, jumped by more than 9 per cent year-on-year for the second quarter of this year.

According to a just released report by Dun & Bradstreet, BOI jumped to 154.5 for second quarter of 2014, up 9.1 per cent from the corresponding quarter of 2013.

The rise in the index represents a positive shift in Indian businesses' sentiment despite economic uncertainty ahead of the formation of the new government.

Dun & Bradstreet (India) President and CEO Kaushal Sampat said, "There has been a positive shift in business sentiment amongst India Inc. Even as business sentiment continues to be impacted by economic uncertainty, a sense of confidence appears to be slowly returning."

Nearly 83 per cent of the respondent said they expected the volume of sales would increase in the second quarter, while 68 per cent of the respondents expressed hope that profits would rise. Around 81 per cent and 58 per cent of the respondents expressed hope for an improvement in their order book positions and level of stocks, respectively.

The composite BOI is calculated by assigning specific weights to six parameters, viz. net sales, net profits, new orders, selling prices, employee levels and inventories. Then, these parameter weights are applied to these ratios and the results aggregated to reach at the composite BOI. Of the six optimism indices, five indices, viz. sales volume, net profits, new orders, selling prices and inventory levels, saw a rise in the Q2 2014 BOI.