Markets nervous ahead of election

The benchmark indices were down nearly one per cent in the closing hours of trade on Wednesday even as a major poll forecast suggested that the ruling BJP-led NDA might return to power.

On Wednesday, markets showed high volatility during the first half of trade, while in the post-lunch session markets slipped continually to close in the red. The BSE Sensex open at 38,898.60 and hit an intraday high of 38,950.45 in the first session and a low of 38,542.28 towards closing. Sensex closed at 38,585.35, down by 353.87 points or 0.91 per cent, and Nifty50 closed at 11,584.30, down by 87.65 or 0.75 per cent, provisionally. Bank Nifty slipped below 30,000 level and closed at 29,803.50, down by 310.35 points or 1.03 per cent.

The top gainer on the indices was Tata Motors up by 4.64 per cent, followed by Cipla, Wipro, HUL and IOC on Nifty, beside these on Sensex Kotak Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and M&M were top gainers.

Among the top losers were Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, TCS, Hindalco, HDFC and HDFC Bank, the top stock dragging the BSE Sensex were index heavyweights HDFC Twins and TCS, besides Reliance and Infy. The only stock that supported the index was Tata Motors.

Sectorally, Auto, Pharma and Realty were in the green while the rest of the indices were in the red, led by the banking index which was down by more than one per cent on Wednesday.