Sensex, Nifty close at record highs as Joe Biden wins US election

Market indices ended 1.6% higher each on Monday, amid positive global equities as Democrat Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in the US presidential race. Extending gains for the sixth session, Sensex ended 704 points higher at 42,597 and Nifty gained 197 points to 12,461.  While Sensex jumped 752 points in the session to hit an all-time high of 42,645, Nifty gained 211 points to touch a fresh high of 12,474.

IndusInd Bank, followed by Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank were among the top gainers on Sensex. On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti and ITC were the only laggards.

Among sectoral indices, banking indices closed 2-3% higher today, followed by a 1.8% gain in metal and 1.5% in IT, metal. Barring metal index, all sectors ended in the green.

Banking and information technology (IT) stocks led the rally as Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time high in early trade.  IT stocks rallied post the outcome of US presidential elections as a Biden win will likely offer some respite to the Indian IT workers hit by H1B visas curbs. Strong September quarterly earnings announcements by lenders such as ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank boosted banking stocks. Pharma stocks also rose today after drugmaker Divi's Labs reported a strong quarterly profit.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said,"Markets started the week on the robust note and made a new record high, taking cues from the global indices. The reaction was mainly in response to the news of Joe Biden winning the US presidential elections. Besides, noticeable buying in index majors especially from the banking pack further boosted the sentiment."

He added, "Markets have seen decent run-up and reached to the record highs as well, driven by better than expected earnings so far, supportive global cues and improving macro data. Further, the on-going corporate earnings, domestic economic data (IIP and CPI) and Bihar election outcome will be in focus. Meanwhile, markets would continue to mirror global indices. We suggest maintaining a "buy on dips" approach and keeping extra caution in the selection of stocks."

Banking, IT stocks push Sensex to record high post Biden win in US election

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said,"Bulls went on a rampage today at the start of the week which promises everything right from Bihar Election results to Factory Output. A 200 point salute to the NIFTY also brought about positive vibes across a host of Small & Midcap stocks in the broader markets".

In the Asia Pacific, markets in Japan, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong were trading with healthy gains after Democrat Joe Biden's election to the White House raised expectations of fewer regulatory changes and more monetary stimulus. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan jumped 1.3%, the highest since January 2018.

Sensex, Nifty hit all-time high: Five factors behind the rally

US markets closed lower on Friday but remained positive for the week as investors took cues from October jobs data, weighed corona cases and monitored election results. But despite the lacklustre Friday, the last week was the best since April with a gain of 7.3% for the S&P500 index.

Keshav Lahoti, Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said," Global cues were positive: Dow Futures, Nasdaq Futures and FTSE were up by 1.4%, 1.8% and 1.3% respectively."

European markets also traded majorly higher following final results of US Presidential elections, shrugging off worries over rising coronavirus cases in the continent.

Worldwide, there were 507 lakh confirmed cases and 12.62 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. India's COVID-19 caseload breached the 85-lakh mark and death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 1.26 lakh, as of today.

Sensex, Nifty at record high: Investors gain Rs 63 lakh crore from March lows

Jyoti Roy- DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel Broking said,"In the US elections,  Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden is all set to become the next US President though the results are most likely to be challenged by the incumbent president in the US Supreme Court. While the blue wave which predicted a clean sweep for the Democrats would have been the most preferred outcome of the US elections, we believe that the current outcome is still acceptable as it would give the new president enough room to implement his policies."

He added,"Post the US elections focus will shift to progress on the second US stimulus package and it is expected that the democrats will come to an agreement with the Republicans regarding the size of the package soon. There is also expected to be a significant shift in foreign policy with the US taking a less combative tone under the new president which will be good for global trade. Though the US may maintain a relatively tough stance on China we expect a significant improvement in the relationship with the rest of the world which would be good for global equities."

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"Firm global cues and a clear majority to favourite democrats party in the US election took main benchmark indices to an all-time high. The rally in the domestic market was also led by Banking and Finance stocks on improved business outlook post Q2 results, end to the moratorium and bounce back of economic activities. The broader market has shown underperformance compared to headline peers as investors feel safer chasing heavyweights during high market levels. We expect more stimulus measures are required to boost the economy and announcements regarding the same from the government is expected in the near future that can further accelerate our domestic market".

On market closing --Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said,"Nifty extended its buoyant movement and closed at the day high which reinstates the bullish tone of the markets. If this momentum continues, we should be achieving 12650-12700 during the course of the November series itself."Meanwhile, Indian rupee erased its early gains and settled 7 paise lower at 74.15 per dollar on Monday, in line with weaker Asian peers as the dollar index rose 0.14 per cent to 92.35.

Rupee gains by 14 paise to 73.94 amid weak dollar, strong domestic equities