The BSE Sensex rallied nearly 2,009 points and the NSE Nifty surged 576 points on Thursday, amid a sharp decline in crude oil prices and hopes of a resolution to the West Asia conflict after the results of the midterm elections, where American voters gave the opposition Democratic Party control of the US Congress.
Sustained foreign fund inflows and a sharp rally in the US markets also lifted investor sentiment and buying across sectors led the benchmark Nifty50 to a three-month high. The 50-share index last traded above the 24,550 level on August 7 at 24,570.65.
The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 2,008.61 points, or 2.60 per cent, to settle at 79,310.01. During the day, it soared 2,168.63 points, or 2.80 per cent, to 79,470.03.
The NSE Nifty surged 576 points, or 2.40 per cent, to end at 24,536.60.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance rallied 7.77 per cent, InterGlobe Aviation 5.80 per cent, ICICI Bank 5.29 per cent, Maruti 5.28 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra 5.15 per cent and Bajaj Finserv 4.66 per cent.
NTPC, Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports and ITC were among the laggards.
In the past six consecutive sessions, the Sensex has surged 6,063.98 points, or 8.27 per cent, and the Nifty rallied 1,837.75 points, or 8 per cent. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 1.59 per cent to $96.12 per barrel. “The US midterm verdict gave Indian equities fresh momentum, with the rally gathering pace on hopes that a more restrained Washington could pave the way for de-escalation in the Iran conflict and tariff policies.
As the threat of geopolitical escalation and energy supply shocks faded, crude prices slumped, and a retreat in US Treasury yields and the dollar took further pressure off India’s inflation outlook and external accounts,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
In a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump, American voters on Tuesday gave the opposition Democratic Party control of the US Congress and flipped key gubernatorial posts in widely watched elections that will have consequences far beyond America.
Trump’s Republican Party faced stunning defeats in its strongholds such as Texas, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, where it lost the governors’ posts to the Democrats.
The grand old party also faced a drubbing in Senate races in Texas, Maine, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Trump campaigned with a simple message urging voters to pretend that he was on the ballot.
The Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, ending the Republicans’ hold on the two chambers of Congress.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth `7,284.03 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Steady recovery in foreign buying and a healthy run of Q2 earnings added substance to the optimism, while improving participation beyond the frontline indices lent the move greater credibility, according to Nair.
The BSE MidCap Select index jumped 1.79 per cent, while the SmallCap Select index was up 0.22 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, Auto jumped 4.13 per cent, Financial Services surged 3.77 per cent, Private Banks index 3.64 per cent, Realty 3.37 per cent, PSU Bank 3.15 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks 3.05 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt 2.94 per cent and Consumer Discretionary 2.77 per cent.
Capital Goods, Power and Telecommunication were the laggards.
A total of 2,994 stocks advanced, while 1,453 declined and 200 remained unchanged on the BSE.
“Indian equities sustained their gap-up opening and extended gains for a sixth consecutive session. The shift in sentiment followed a sharp unwinding of crude oil’s geopolitical risk premium after the US midterm outcome fuelled expectations of a negotiated de-escalation with Iran.
Brent crude recovered modestly from its overnight lows but continued to trade around $ 96 a barrel, well below last week’s levels,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended sharply lower, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled higher.
Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. The US equity markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 3.03 per cent, S&P 500 jumped 1.58 per cent and Nasdaq Composite was up 1.44 per cent.
On Wednesday, the Sensex rose 383.55 points, or 0.50 per cent, to settle at 77,301.40, its highest closing level in more than two months. The Nifty was up 149.75 points, or 0.63 per cent, to end at 23,960.60.
The US equity markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 3.03 per cent, S&P 500 jumped 1.58 per cent and Nasdaq Composite was up 1.44 per cent.