Investors across the world were in a tearing hurry to gobble up stocks as they dumped the possibilities of adverse policy consequences in the wake of a fractured mandate in the US that is yet to pick their next President while a divided US House is expected to keep regulatory excesses in check.

The positive sentiment swept the domestic bourses, too, aided by better-than-expected corporate results.

The equity benchmarks on Thursday settled at near nine-month highs with the Sensex closing above the 41000-mark for the first time since mid-February.

Rallying for the fourth straight session, the BSE Sensex surged 724.02 points or 1.78 per cent to close at 41340.16.

The Sensex also wiped off all its losses for the calendar year; the bellwether had closed at 41306.02 on January 1, 2020.

The broader NSE Nifty zoomed 211.80 points, or 1.78 per cent to finish at 12120.30.

State Bank of India was the top gainer, soaring 5.63 per cent following strong second-quarter results.

The rally came even as a tight US presidential battle saw Democratic candidate Joe Biden inching towards victory. However, the attention of investors was focussed on the policy environment under the new administration.

According to investors, even if Biden wins, a Republican held Senate would block any moves by the the Democrats to tighten regulation and raise corporate taxes.
Investors are also expecting less confrontational trade policies with China and other countries under a possible Biden and Republican-controlled Senate.

The optimism led to stocks ignoring factors such as rising number of Covid-19 cases globally and poor economic growth.
Derivatives

The BSE on Thursday said US regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has allowed the exchange’s brokers to accept derivatives orders from US clients. The move will enable trading members to accept futures and options (F&O) orders from customers located in the US.