Sensex surges 1,600 points as oil slides after U.S. midterm results lift risk appetite

Indian stock markets opened near three-month highs on Thursday as crude oil slid after U.S. midterm results gave Democrats decisive wins, with the BSE Sensex up more than 1,500 points and the NSE Nifty 50 trading above 24,400.

The 30-share Sensex opened at 78,553.72, up 1,252.32 points or 1.62%, from the previous close of 77,301.40, Zee Business reported. At 9:24 am it was trading at 78,651.14, up 1,349.74 points or 1.75%, while the 50-share Nifty gained 375.70 points or 1.57% to 24,336.30. By 9:50 am, the Sensex stood at 78,962.87, extending its opening gain of about 1,300 points to over 1,600 points, a rise of 2.16%, Hindustan Times reported.

Brent, Treasuries and the chain reaction

Stock futures in the U.S. were mixed after the big rally that followed Congress being swept, but Asian stocks were poised to rise as oil kept sliding, Bloomberg reported. Brent crude futures dropped 1% to $93.5 a barrel on Thursday, after an 8.7% slide in the previous session, and it hit a two-month low, Moneycontrol reported. The midterm outcome revived hopes that the Iran war risk would ease, which fed directly into the rally in stock markets.

Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research at HDFC Securities, said U.S. government debt yields retreated across the curve, with the 10-year Treasury yield sliding to approximately 4.89%. Lower yields, cheaper crude and a changed political map in Washington were the three drivers named by India Today for the Sensex’s gain of nearly 1,400 points.

Broad breadth, with media up and IT down

The Hindu reported a broad-market gain with strong foreign institutional investor inflows on the day. Not every sector joined in equally: the media index gained 5% while the IT index fell 2%, according to CNBCTV18.

Ahead of the session, The Economic Times had published a Samvat 2083 strategy note listing 15 top stock picks to bet on for a market recovery. Small-caps also had movers. Mint reported that Sammaan Capital shares jumped 6%; the stock opened at ₹129 on the NSE, from a previous close of ₹125.98 on Wednesday, and touched an intraday high of ₹136.50 on 5 November. Separately, Trade Brains reported that a wastewater management stock jumped 12% after Q2 net profit rose 186% quarter-on-quarter, citing a strong order book, international presence and an FY27 sales target.

NSE results and the Nifty’s four-day recovery

National Stock Exchange of India posted a 23% rise in quarterly profit in its first results since listing, Reuters reported. The listing puts the exchange’s own numbers into the same tape that the equity indices have been trading on, and it gives the market a public benchmark to read against the rally.

The Nifty’s run was the sharper longer-arc number. CNBCTV18 reported that the index had gained over 1,300 points across a four-day rally from the lows it made on 29 October, climbing from sub-22,500 territory. That recovery, rather than the opening spike alone, is the frame for reading where the next leg comes from.

The 23% quarterly profit rise at NSE is the first result since its listing; the Nifty’s next near-term reference remains the sub-22,500 level it left behind on 29 October.