Jitters of counting day led the Indian indices to experience their biggest fall in the last four years on Tuesday with the investors losing nearly Rs 30 lakh crore in a single season.
As the counting for the Lok Sabha polls entered the final phase, Sensex closed 4,389 points down, or 5.74 per cent, at 72,079, while Nifty shed 1,379 points, or 5.93 per cent, to close at 21,884 on Tuesday.
Nifty Bank suffered a loss of over 4,051 points, or 7.95 per cent, to close at 46,928.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Hero MotoCorp, Britannia, Nestle, and Divis Labs were among the top gainers on Nifty, while ONGC, Coal India, and SBI suffered the most.
Except for FMCG stocks which outperformed on a poor day for investors, all other sectoral indices traded in deep red, with realty, telecom, metal, oil & gas, power, and PSU bank down more than 10 per cent each.
The BSE midcap and smallcap indices were down 7-8 per cent.
Experts said that the market, which had begun to price in a landslide victory for the NDA, witnessed a significant correction due to margin calls, as the retail investors were carrying heavily leveraged positions.
“Immediate support is visible at the psychological level of 22,000, below which the index might fall further towards 21,400-21,500. Recovery looks possible once the trend moves in favour of the BJP winning the elections comfortably,” said Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities.
The unexpected outcome of the general elections sparked a wave of fear selling in the domestic market, reversing the recent substantial rally.
According to experts, despite this, the market maintains its expectation of stability within the coalition led by the BJP as the major election winner, thereby mitigating a substantial downside in the medium term.
Sensex, Nifty open lower as Trump tariffs trigger global sell-off
Indian equity indices opened lower on Thursday following a sharp sell-off in global markets after the US President Donald Trump announcement of reciprocal tariffs.
India stands less impacted by Trump tariffs than global peers: Industry
As US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries, including India, industry experts said on Thursday that it appears India's export competitiveness to the US market stands far less impacted on a relative basis compared to global peers.
Sensex, Nifty end higher ahead of US reciprocal tariffs announcement
The Indian stock market bounced back on Wednesday, with both the Sensex and Nifty closing higher, just before the reciprocal tariffs deadline set by US President Donald Trump.
Early April critical for investors’ sentiment amid key economic data: Report
Early April will be critical for market sentiment, with key economic data releases providing insights into global manufacturing, employment trends and economic activity, a report showed on Monday.
Foreign investors pump Rs 31,000 crore into Indian stocks as market rebounds
Foreign investors have injected nearly Rs 31,000 crore into Indian equity markets in the last six trading sessions of March, according to the latest depository data.
India and China make 'further progress' to resume Kailash Manasarovar Yatra: MEA
India and China have made further progress on the modalities to resume Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said following the official consultation between Foreign Ministries of India and China, held in Bejing on Wednesday.