Indian equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 crashed in opening trade as leads showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was ahead of the Congress-led INDIA alliance but both had crossed the 200-seat mark.
The BSE Sensex was trading 3.23% lower at 73,997 points at 10:55 am on Monday. The Nifty 50 has slumped as much as 4% to 22,444 points at 10:55 am.
The decline in equity benchmarks was led by the Adani Group stocks. Adani Enterprises fell as much as 14% to hit a low of ₹3,146 apiece on the BSE. India’s largest private ports operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) dropped as much as 15% to hit a low of ₹1,352.70 on the BSE.
Shares of cement maker Ambuja Cements tanked 14% in intraday trade to hit a low of ₹576.85 on the BSE. Shares of Adani Total Gas crashed as much as 19% to ₹912 on the BSE. Shares of Adani Energy Solutions slumped nearly 20% to hit a low of ₹981.50 on the BSE. Shares of edible oil maker Adani Wilmar fell 10% to hit a low of ₹332 on the BSE.
As of 11:10 am, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA was leading in 291 seats while the Rahul Gandhi-led INDIA alliance was ahead in 230 seats. Others were leading in about 20 seats.
Beat exit poll predictions, the INDIA bloc was leading in the key state of Uttar Pradesh. Early leads showed that INDIA bloc was leading in over 40 seats of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. BJP leader Smriti Irani was trailing Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma in the Amethi seat. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was leading from Rae Bareli seats with a margin of over 80,000 votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was leading from the Varanasi seat by over 49,000 votes.
