Indian stock market opens in green ahead of US election outcome

Mumbai: As counting for the keenly-contested US presidential election went underway, the Indian stock market opened in green on Wednesday as buying was seen in sectors like realty, media, energy, private bank and infrastructure.

Sensex was trading at 80,087.35 after rising 610 points or 0.77 per cent. At the same time, the Nifty was trading at 24,393.40 after rising 180 points or 0.74 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,820 stocks were trading in green, while 449 stocks were trading in red.

Nifty Bank was at 52,289.75 after rising 82.50 points or 0.16 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 56,589.90 after gaining 474.45 points or 0.85 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,651.70 after gaining 148.25 points or 0.80 per cent.

HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank were the top gainers in the Sensex pack. Titan, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors and SBI were the top losers.

According to market experts, the sharp rebound in the market on Tuesday indicated a halt to the downward trend witnessed during the last many days.

“The fact that the rebound is being led by fairly-valued and fundamentally strong large banking stocks is important and points to the possibility of the continuation of the trend,” they noted.

According to them, the noise and action related to the US elections will last only for a few days, after which economic fundamentals will determine the direction of the market trend.

In Asia, stock markets of Jakarta, Shanghai and Tokyo were trading in the green, while markets of Seoul, Bangkok and Hong Kong remained in the red in early trade. Meanwhile, the US stock market closed in the green on the last trading day amid the election.

In India, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,569 crore on November 5, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,030 crore on the same day.

—IANS