Sensex falls 650 points on exit poll predictions for five states, global sell-off

Weak global markets and uncertainty over the outcome of assembly election results sent Indian markets sharply lower on Monday. The Sensex slumped 500 points while Nifty fell below 10,550.

The benchmark BSE Sensex slumped over 650 points on Monday as investors turned jittery ahead of the declaration of state elections results, weakening rupee and crude oil price rise amid an escalation of the US-China trade tensions.

The exit polls are mixed, but we don’t want to take any risk before actual results are out given that oil is also up, said a trader at a foreign bank.(Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index plummeted 650 points to 35,016.51 till 10am on Monday. All stocks in the index were trading in the red. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty also slumped 172.95 points, or 1.62%, to 10,520.75.

The Sensex had rallied 361.12 points, or 1.02%, to close at 35,673.25 on Friday, and the broader Nifty had jumped 92.55 points, or 0.87%, to 10,693.70 in the previous session.

The rupee eased to 71.45 per dollar, its weakest since Nov. 20. It recovered marginally to 71.30, but was still weaker than Friday’s close of 70.80.

The 10-year benchmark bond yield rose to 7.52 percent from 7.46 percent on Friday while the broader NSE stock index was 1.7 percent lower.

The carnage on Dalal Street was led by metal, realty, banking and auto stocks. Top losers include Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, PowerGrid, Coal India, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, ONGC, Vedanta, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank, falling up to 4 per cent.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meet and the arrest of global CFO of Huawei has unnerved global investors. Experts said domestic state election results may just be the fuel for a short-term volatility.

The exit polls on Friday predicted a tight finish between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan. The election results for Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh will be announced on Tuesday.

“The exit polls are mixed, but we don’t want to take any risk before actual results are out given that oil is also up,” said a trader at a foreign bank. “Sentiment will remain cautious until state election results are out (on Tuesday),” he added.

Global crude oil prices rose after OPEC members and 10 other oil producing nations agreed Friday to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day in a bid to boost prices. Energy ministers reached the deal, which takes effect from January 1 but has already sent prices surging on oil markets, after two days of talks at OPEC headquarters in Vienna.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading 0.68% up at $62.09 per barrel. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 59 paise to 71.40 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange amid strengthening of the American currency against some currencies overseas.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth ₹817.40 crore Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of ₹242.56 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was fell 1.41%, Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.18% and Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.84% in early trade. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index cracked 558.72 points, or 2.24%, to 24,388.95 on Friday.

(With agency inputs)