MUMBAI: The Sensex vaulted 2,008.61 points, or 2.60 per cent, to close at 79,310.01 on Thursday and the Nifty added 576 points, or 2.40 per cent, to end at 24,536.60, as crude oil slid and the US midterm verdict raised hopes of a de-escalation in West Asia, drawing foreign money back into Indian equities.
Intraday, the Sensex rose as much as 2,168.63 points, or 2.80 per cent, to 79,470.03. The Nifty closed above the 24,550 mark for the first time since August 7, when it had ended at 24,570.65.
Thursday was the sixth straight session of gains. Over that run the Sensex has added 6,063.98 points, or 8.27 per cent, and the Nifty 1,837.75 points, or 8 per cent.
Bajaj Finance led the Sensex pack with a 7.77 per cent gain, followed by InterGlobe Aviation (5.80), ICICI Bank (5.29), Maruti (5.28), Mahindra & Mahindra (5.15) and Bajaj Finserv (4.66). NTPC, Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports and ITC were the laggards.
On the BSE, auto rose 4.13 per cent, financial services 3.77 per cent, private banks 3.64 per cent and realty 3.37 per cent, while capital goods, power and telecommunication slipped. Market breadth was strong, with 2,994 stocks advancing against 1,453 declining and 200 unchanged. The BSE MidCap Select index gained 1.79 per cent and the SmallCap Select 0.22 per cent.
Brent crude was up 1.59 per cent at USD 96.12 a barrel but stayed well below last week's levels, having shed the geopolitical risk premium built up during the Iran conflict. Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 7,284.03 crore on Wednesday, exchange data showed.
The trigger was Tuesday's US vote, in which the Democratic Party won control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, defeating President Donald Trump's Republicans in Senate races across Texas, Maine, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, and flipping governor's posts in Texas, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio.
"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," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said, adding that retreating US Treasury yields and a weaker dollar eased pressure on India's inflation outlook and external accounts.
Hariselvan Radhakrishnan of HST Wealth said crude's geopolitical risk premium unwound sharply after the midterm outcome, and that steady foreign buying and a healthy Q2 earnings run added substance to the move.
On Wednesday, the Sensex had risen 383.55 points, or 0.50 per cent, to settle at 77,301.40, and the Nifty 149.75 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 23,960.60. US markets closed sharply higher, with the Dow up 3.03 per cent, the S&P 500 1.58 per cent and the Nasdaq 1.44 per cent.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)