BSE Sensex Falls 200 Points, Metals Lead Decline

BSE Sensex and Nifty fell sharply in afternoon trade, led by selling pressure in metal, oil & gas and IT stocks.

Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava said with the state election results factored in, there are no near-term triggers for the market. For Nifty, 8350-8400 is likely to be the near-term resistance levels, he added.

The BJP is set to form government in Jharkhand. Jammu and Kashmir is headed for a hung house with the Peoples Democratic Party set to emerge as the single-largest party. There is speculation about a possible partnership between the two parties to form government in J&K.

At day's low, Sensex fell over 200 points to touch 27,494.94 while Nifty hit 8,260.35. Metal and oil & gas stocks came under pressure after the brief global commodity rally stalled, with crude prices coming under renewed pressure.

The BSE metal index fell 1.8 per cent while oil & gas fell over 1 per cent. Among major Nifty losers, ONGC, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Coal India were down nearly 2 per cent.