Fireworks on D-Street: Markets surge for 6th day; Sensex jumps 2,009 points

MUMBAI: 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 elevated optimism.

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 50-share 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, followed by 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 USD 96.12 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 7,284.03 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

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.

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.