Indian markets recovered after Donald Trump was announced as the winner in the US elections to become the 45th president of the United States. Further, the surprising move by the government on banning high denomination currencies also dampened investor sentiment had weighed markets which saw an initial loss of over 1600 points on the Sensex.
The BSE benchmark Sensex, which tanked nearly 1700 points to 25,902.45 early on in the session, rallied to a high of 27,397.38 around mid afternoon and eventually ended the day with a loss of 338.61 points or 1.23% at 27,252.53. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange ended down 111.55 points or 1.3% at 8432.00, after having plunged nearly 550 points to 8002.25 in early trades. As stocks tumbled, both Sensex and the Nifty50 dropped down to their lowest levels in more than five months.
The Sensex and Nifty opened sharply lower this morning as the government’s major decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 comes into effect and Republican candidate Donald Trump leading the tight battle in the US presidential election.
Besides, meltdown in global equities as polling numbers suggested that market-favoured Hillary Clinton is struggling in her bitter battle against Donald Trump for the US presidency dampened sentiments.
Moreover, the rupee weakening against the US dollar by 23 paise to 66.85 also had a bearing on the sentiment. Most of the 30-Sensex constituents led by M&M, ADani Ports, BhartiAirtel, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Cipla, HDFC Ltd, ONGC and Hind Unilever were trading in negative terrain, falling by up to 5.77 per cent.
Real estate stocks bore the brunt as the sector is expected to feel the heat of the government's move to phase out of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Major losers were DLF, Sobha Developers, India Bull Real Estate, Godrej Properties, HDIL and Unitech, down by up to 15 per cent.
Meanwhile, Brent oil prices too dived 2.65 per cent to 44.82 per barrel in Asian trade.
Despite most of the markets across Asia closing sharply lower and major European markets getting off to a weak start, the Indian market managed to recover most of the lost ground thanks to some hectic buying in pharmaceuticals and select bank stocks. With several stocks from oil, capital goods and metal sectors too managing to wriggle out of the day's lows, the market ended the day with less pronounced losses.
The US stocks futures S&P plunged 4.45 per cent today.
