Sensex extends gains on banking, finance boost; global markets firm on US election day

The Sensex rallied 504 points while the Nifty reclaimed the 11,800-level on Tuesday, propped up by banking and finance counters, as global markets marched higher on US election day.

Encouraging Q2 results and foreign capital inflows added to the buying momentum in the domestic markets, traders said.

Rising for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 503.55 points or 1.27 per cent higher at 40,261.13.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 144.35 points or 1.24 per cent to 11,813.50.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring 6.51 per cent, followed by SBI, HDFC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, HCL Tech, Infosys and HUL were among the laggards, shedding up to 3.75 per cent.

Global bourses followed Wall Street higher as investors wagered on fresh US stimulus immediately after the elections.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo ended with significant gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a positive note in early deals.

"Indian equities witnessed a sharp rally today mainly led by strong global cues, which was caused by expectations of large fiscal stimulus with national polls in the US predicting Democratic sweep in the presidential election."

"Additionally, positive economic data in domestic markets with regards of strong manufacturing PMI for Oct'20 and strong 2Q corporate earnings bolstered investors' confidence in domestic equities. Barring realty, all sectoral indices ended in green today, while Financials once again led broader market rally."

"Going forward, market is expected to be volatile due to likely ambiguity over election outcome in the US and continued rise in COVID-19 cases in various European nations including US," said Arjun Yash Mahajan, Head Institutional Business at Reliance Securities.

Sector-wise, BSE bankex, finance, metal, auto, consumer durables and healthcare indices rallied as much as 3.21 per cent, while realty, energy, telecom, teck and oil and gas closed in the red.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices spurted up to 0.42 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers in the capital markets as they purchased shares worth Rs 740.61 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 3.31 per cent higher at USD 40.26 per barrel.

In the forex market, the rupee settled almost flat at 74.41 against the US dollar.