India’s BSE Sensex closed 2.6% higher at 79,310 on Thursday, marking its strongest daily advance since April 8 and extending its winning streak to six consecutive sessions. Sentiment remained buoyant on the back of renewed foreign portfolio inflows, solid corporate earnings, softer crude oil prices, and expectations that global geopolitical tensions may ease.
Global markets were also firm following the US midterm election results, which are seen as potentially limiting President Trump’s scope to fully implement his policy agenda, particularly with regard to the Middle East conflict.
Gains on the Sensex were broad-based and driven largely by heavyweight financials, banking counters and automobile shares. Among individual names, Bajaj Finance surged 7.8%, followed by InterGlobe Aviation (5.8%), ICICI Bank (5.3%), Maruti (5.3%), Mahindra & Mahindra (5.2%), Bajaj Finserv (4.7%) and Asian Paints (4.5%). On the downside, NTPC slipped 1.7%, while Bharat Electronics fell 0.6% and Adani Ports edged down 0.5%.
