Stocks got a lift-off from the election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of United States with IT stocks leading the party on expectations the sector would benefit from lower corporate taxes in the new regime.
Extending its gains to the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 901.50 points, or 1.13 per cent, to end at 80378.13. During intra-day trades, it zoomed 1093.1 points to 80569.73. On the NSE, the Nifty jumped 270.75 points to close at 24484.05.
The US stock market, Elon Musk’s Tesla and banks are also storming higher as investors bet on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and world.
Shares in Tesla, whose chief executive Elon Musk was a major backer, surged as much as 13 per cent at the start of trading in New York. The S&P 500 and the Dow scaled all-time highs on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq also jumped.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1420 points, or 3.36 per cent, to 43642.27. The last time Dow crossed 1000 points in a day was in November 2022.
In India, the top four gainers in the Sensex pack were IT stocks with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rising the most by 4.21 per cent. It was followed by Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra that rallied up to 4.02 per cent.
Market circles said Trump’s pledge to cut corporate taxes would increase discretionary tech spending of American companies, which will be favourable for Indian companies.
There are others who said IT companies would face challenges such as tighter immigration controls, while calls from the new administration for more local employment would could increase costs.
“The global markets experienced a relief rally following the US results, reducing political uncertainty. This has led to strong risk-on sentiments, driven by expectations of tax cuts and increased government spending,” Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
Some analysts warned about the protectionist policies of Trump. “With Donald Trump being re-elected for his second term, the Indian stock market is expected to be relatively volatile, influenced by his protectionist trade policies and more restrictive immigration plans,” Palka Arora Chopra, director at Master Capital Services, said.
“His America First & Make America Great Again agendas, which emphasise tighter immigration controls, may pose challenges for India’s IT sector, which relies heavily on US H-1B visas,’’ Chopra said.
“If Trump further limits these visas, Indian IT firms may potentially experience headwinds like increased costs and operational challenges, affecting their US growth prospects.” Chopra said Indian pharma companies may face hurdles from a higher scrutiny of their operations.
Swapnil Aggarwal, director, VSRK Capital, said with Trump’s re-election there could be notable shifts in the Indian market, with sectors such as manufacturing, energy and defence standing to benefit.