Elections & Markets: Indices ignore polls, Patel's exit; Sensex up 190 pts

The benchmark indices erased their day's losses to settle around 0.5 per cent higher on Tuesday as the outcome of assembly elections in five states were largely in line with exit polls.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,150, up 190 points or 0.5 per cent, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,549, up 61 points or 0.6 per cent. During the day, the S&P BSE index had fallen as much as 533 points to hit an intra-day low of 34,426 level, while the Nifty 50 index had slipped 155 points to 10,334.

The broader market indices overperformed their benchmark peers, with the S&P BSE MidCap index rising 1.5 per cent to end the day at 14,669, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rose 1.5 per cent at 14,059.

ELECTIONS & MARKETS

Election experts consider it fallacious to extrapolate the Assembly poll results to predict the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, but the verdict in the five states is likely to be interpreted as a barometer of the public mood for 2019. The results could also determine the political discourse, both of the government and Opposition, for the next few months as the winter session of Parliament begins on Tuesday, experts say. GET ALL THE LIVE UPDATES HERE

4:38 PM

MARKET COMMENT Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking

With BJP losing power in key states and uncertainty hovering around post the RBI governor’s resignation, we prefer to remain cautious on the Indian equities in the near term despite a smart rebound in today’s session. The domestic macro data like IIP, CPI & WPI, crude oil price & currency movement and global developments, especially on the US-China trade front will be closely monitored by the market participants. Investors’ focus should remain on fundamentally sound companies with strong growth prospects, while traders should avoid risky leveraged positions

3:39 PM

Sectoral trend on NSE

3:37 PM

S&P BSE Sensex top gainers and losers

3:33 PM

Market at close

 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,150, up 190 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,555, up 68 points.

3:23 PM

Web Exclusive Why market has taken BJP's election setback in its stride

 

After sliding nearly 500 points in the opening deals, the domestic equity market pared all its losses and later swung into the positive territory on Tuesday, signalling investors are not too unhappy with the results and they are seeing a light of hope. The only uncertainty was the sudden resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel, which triggered a knee-jerk reaction in the morning. Counting of votes in five states is underway. Congress candidates took significant lead in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh and was inching ahead of the BJP in Rajasthan. Read more

3:15 PM

Web Exclusive State poll outcome is not a big worry for the markets: U R Bhat

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not done well, especially in the large states. As far as the markets are concerned, the state election results do not matter much. This time around, people are extrapolating this to the general elections scheduled in 2019.

 

I believe that the current dispensation at the Centre still has some hold over the electorate. This, in turn, is giving hope to the market. The markets have digested the bad news and are now looking ahead to other events. The general elections are still a few months away. In the interim, most negative information is already in the stock prices. Read more

3:12 PM

PSU banks in focus; Corporation Bank, PNB, Uco Bank up over 5%

Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks were in focus, with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining more than 2% and bouncing back 4.4% from its early morning low, as the markets shrug off worries over Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor's exit. READ MORE

2:54 PM

Web Exclusive 'Poll outcome unexpected; need a quick replacement for Urjit Patel'

 

Markets have taken the outcome of state assembly polls and the sudden exit of the Reserve Bank of India's governor in their stride. Jitendra Gohil, head of India equity research at Credit Suisse Wealth Management tells Puneet Wadhwa that foreign investors now will take a wait-and-watch approach as regards India given these developments. Read full interview here

JItendra Gohil, India equity research head at Credit Suisse

2:43 PM

NEWS ALERT Fitch says the previous RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan also resigned under similar conditions. Patel's exit points to next Governor being more amenable to Govt’s pro-growth aim

2:42 PM

NEWS ALERT Fitch says Patel’s shock resignation will raise monetary policy uncertainty in India; monetary policy uncertainty already begun to affect India's financial assets

2:38 PM

NEWS ALERT Fitch says believe that Urjit Patel's resignation bodes poorly for macroeconomic & financial stability in India, reports CNBC TV18

2:36 PM

Gold prices up as dollar slips, hints of pause in rate hike cycle by Fed

Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday, supported by hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve could pause its rate hike cycle sooner than expected and as the dollar slipped after the previous session's rally.

 

Spot gold was up 0.2per cent at $1,247.26 per ounce, as of 0719 GMT. It touched its highest in nearly five months at $1,250.55 in the prior session. US gold futures were 0.2 per cent higher at $1,252.1 per ounce. READ MORE

2:28 PM

Top gainers in Nifty50 index

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN( )	GAIN(%)	VOLUME
YES BANK	175.10	165.65	9.45	5.70	64626899
SUN PHARMA.INDS.	421.00	399.00	22.00	5.51	19391655
ASIAN PAINTS	1329.65	1274.20	55.45	4.35	1339500
AXIS BANK	610.35	590.30	20.05	3.40	13309737
ZEE ENTERTAINMEN	480.45	466.15	14.30	3.07	2602986

2:16 PM

PM Modi got into action on Monday evening to choose next RBI governor

Late Monday evening, soon after RBI governor Urjit Patel announced his resignation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have called a meeting of top officials. With the entire dispensation caught off guard a day before the results of five Assembly elections were to be out and four days ahead of the RBI board meeting, the government quickly got into action to shortlist the names of suitable candidates for the next governor. READ MORE

2:07 PM

Top gainers in S&P BSE Midcap index

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN( )	GAIN(%)	VOLUME
SHRIRAM TRANS.	1155.40	1091.55	63.85	5.85	50967
DEWAN HSG. FIN.	207.70	196.75	10.95	5.57	1209027
COLGATE-PALM.	1259.85	1202.00	57.85	4.81	29483
MAX FINANCIAL	426.95	407.75	19.20	4.71	53136
AJANTA PHARMA	1064.95	1018.70	46.25	4.54	23671
LIC HOUSING FIN.	438.55	420.60	17.95	4.27	73640
M & M FIN. SERV.	415.70	400.45	15.25	3.81	292462
GLENMARK PHARMA.	659.80	635.75	24.05	3.78	75825
KANSAI NEROLAC	449.50	433.30	16.20	3.74	11971