Sensex Down By Over 4,000 Points As Votes Are Counted For Lok Sabha Polls

Indian stock markets crashed by over 4,000 points today, after a sharp rally in the previous session, as early election results showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance leading in more than 272 seats, but the extent of the victory was not clear and its lead narrower than what exit polls had predicted.

The BSE Sensex closed 5.74 per cent or 4,389 points at 72,079, while the NSE Nifty 50 ended 5.93 per cent or 1,379 points lower. This is the biggest single-day fall in Indian markets since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

The sharp fall erased all of Monday's gains after exit polls projected that the BJP-led alliance will likely get a two-thirds majority in the lower house.

As per the initial trends, the NDA is currently leading on 298 seats, while the INDIA bloc is ahead on 225 seats. A party or alliance needs to cross the 272 mark in the 543-seat Lok Sabha assembly to form the government.

All sectors were in the red. Bank stocks fell 7.8%, realty dropped 9.1%, infrastructure declined 10.5%, while oil and gas stocks lost 11.7% and state-run companies and banks retreated 17% and 16%, respectively.

The biggest laggards in the 30 company Sensex were State Bank of India, Reliance, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, NTPC, HDFC Bank.

Sun Pharma and Nestle were the only gainers.

"The fear of the market is whether present numbers will stay or will reduce further. (Even at current majority) there will be some element of disappointment as they are below market expectations," said Mayuresh Joshi, head- equity research India at William O'Neil and Company.