Nifty settles over 8,500 mark ahead of US elections

The Indian equity market rallied for the second straight session. Also, increased buying by foreign funds and domestic financial institutions supported trading sentiment. The outcome of the 2016 U.S presidential elections, which will be held today, will have a bearing on global stocks. The front runner for the Presidential election is Hillary Clinton from the Democratic Party who is closely followed by Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 132 points at 27,591. The BSE Sensex opened at 27,537, touched an intra-day high of 27,647 and low of 27,407.

The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of 47 points at 8,543. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,540, hitting a high of 8,559 and low of 8,480.

Among the Nifty stocks, Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, GAIL, BHEL, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Yes Bankwere the gainers today whereas Sun Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma, Tata Power, HCL Tech and Lupinwere among the losers.

The auto, industrial, oil & gas, banking, finance and metal stocks led the rally today, while, pharma, FMCG and realty stocks incurred loss on the BSE index. In afternoon trade, the market saw the day's high after profit taking in select index heavyweights and pharma shares capped a further upside.

However, broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up between 0.20%-0.30%.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was up 1.59% at 16.7700. Out of 1,500 stocks traded on the NSE, 835 declined and 609 advanced today.

The rupee was trading marginally up by nine paise at 66.65 per US dollar.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.47% and Japan's Nikkei closed lower, however, Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.47%.

European stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 and CAC 40 were marginally up, while DAX is trading in red.

Adani Enterprises climbed 3% after the company announced its plans to form a joint venture with Elbit Incorporated to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles. The company will hold 51% stake in the joint venture, while the Israel-based firm will own the rest. The new venture will be called Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Limited.

Ashok Leyland soared 2.3% after the company posted a net profit of Rs 294 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 172 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Bharat Forge Ltd slipped 1% after the company posted a net profit after tax of Rs 127 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 172 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

ICICI Bank gained 1.6% on the BSE. The bank reported net profit of Rs 3,102 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 against Rs 3,030 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Mindtree Ltd zoomed 3% to Rs 442 after a huge block deal. Around 3.65 million or 2.18% stake of the company changed hands in a block deal.

Manali Petrochemical tanked 11.7% to Rs 36 after the company said its net profit fell 37% to Rs 10.39 crore in the September quarter against Rs 16.6 crore a year ago. Its total income fell 18% to Rs 154 crore.

Future Retail dropped 3.7%. Future Retail said it has agreed to buy the retail business of Hyderabad-based Heritage Foods Ltd, promoted by the family members of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, in an all-stock deal. Heritage Foods closed lower by 1.4% on the BSE.

A total of 31 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, whereas 18 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Nifty above 8,500 mark

The BSE and NSE opened in green on Tuesday, tracking strength in the global markets as Americans go to vote to decide their next President.

The S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 27,563 up 104 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,526 up 28 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.35% at 12,959 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.71% at 13,123.

Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's and Asian Paints are among the gainers, whereas ITC, HDFC, Adani Ports, L&T, HDFC Bank and M&M are losing sheen on NSE.

Some buying activity is seen in auto, industrial, realty, consumer durables and IT sectors, while FMCG is showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 0.51% at 16.4225. Out of 1,861 stocks traded on the NSE, 389 declined, 1,064 advanced and 408 remained unchanged today.

A total of 18 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while three stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened at 66.72/$ as against the previous close of 66.73/$.