Sensex, Nifty see worst session since Covid pandemic

Indian stock markets crashed by over 5,000 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 was down 6.71 percent or 5,602 points at 71,002, while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 6.89 percent or 1,634 points at 12.15 am. This is the biggest single-day fall in Indian markets since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

The indexes saw their worst fall since March 2020, and 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 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.