Market Wrap, Nov 5: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The benchmark indices continued to soar and ended nearly 2 per cent higher on Thursday ahead of the US election results. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 41,340, up 724 points, or 1.78 per cent while NSE's Nifty ended above the crucial 12,000 level at 12,120, up 212 points, or 1.78 per cent.
 

With today's rally, the S&P BSE Sensex erased all its 2020 losses and turned positive for the year. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the index is now up 0.2 per cent while NSE's Nifty is still down 0.4 per cent from its December 31, 2019 level of 12,168.45.

The volatility index, India VIX, today dropped a whopping 10 per cent to 20.96 levels.
 

The broader market rallied in-line with the frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 263 points, or 1.74 per cent higher at  15,349 points while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed the session at 15,136, up 253 points, or 1.7 per cent.
 

Sectorally, barring Nifty Realty, all other indices ended in the green. Nifty Metal jumped 4.4 per cent to 2,488.65 levels while Nifty Bank added over 2 per cent to 26,313 points.
 

Among individual stocks, shares of HPCL ended nearly 10 per cent higher at Rs 205 on the BSE after the company announced it will buy back up to 100 million shares for no more than Rs 250 apiece. Further, the company reported a twofold jump in its second-quarter (July-September 2020, or Q2) net profit at Rs 2,477 crore on the back of a surge in refining margins and inventory gains.
 

Shares of multiplex operators such as PVR and Inox Leisure gained up to 10 per cent on the BSE after the Maharashtra government permitted cinema halls to operate from today.
 

Now, a look at the global developments.
 

Democrat Joe Biden moved closer to victory in the U.S. presidential race on Thursday as election officials tallied votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome and protesters took to the streets.
 

In the financial market, Asian shares scaled a near three-year peak and bonds extended their blistering rally as investors wagered the prospect of US policy gridlock would greatly favour some industries while also restraining government borrowing.
 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 2 per cent to reach its highest since February 2018. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.7 per cent to a more than nine-month top and South Korea put on 2.4 per cent.
 

In commodities, oil dropped as Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to the White House in a nail-biting US presidential election, but the Republicans look likely to retain Senate control, decreasing the chances of any huge Covid-19 relief package.