Key equity benchmarks hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 119.73 points or 0.31% at 38,939.10. The Nifty 50 index was down 49.8 points or 0.43% at 11,554.30.
Trading was volatile on account of weekly index options expiry today. Traders keenly watched the Assembly election results in Maharashtra and Haryana. Risk appetite was affected as BJP was seen struggling to reach majority mark of 46 seats in Haryana.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.5%. The Small-Cap index was down 0.21%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 980 shares rose and 1331 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 17 stocks advanced while 33 stocks declined.
On the political front, the Election Commission (EC) is set to declare the results for the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections. EC began the counting of votes at 8:00 IST and the final results will be declared by the evening.
Trends emerging from the counting of votes suggested a hung Assembly in Haryana as BJP is struggling to meet the majority mark. BJP seems to be falling short of its "75-plus seats" target in Haryana. While Congress is leading on 33 seats, BJP is ahead on 37 seats and won 1 seat. Jannayak Janta Party was leading on 6 seats and won 4 seat.
In Maharashtra, official trends showed BJP leading in 94 constituencies and won 7 seats; Shiv Sena leading in 51 constituencies and won 8 seats; NCP leading in 54 constituencies and won 2 seats; and Indian National Congress in 42 and won 3 seats. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the 50:50 formula of ruling decided on before elections will be followed.
Voting in Maharashtra's 288 constituencies and Haryana's 90 constituencies was held on 21 October. In Maharashtra, 61.3% voters turned up to cast their vote while the voter turnout in Haryana was 68.31%.
On the equity front, car major Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.51% to Rs 7,326.80 after the company announced its Q2 numbers during market hours today. The company's consolidated net profit dropped 38.99% to Rs 1,391.10 crore on 24.26% decline in total revenue from operations to Rs 16,997.90 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The automobile firm sold a total of 3.38 lakh vehicles during Q2 September 2019, lower by 30.2% on comparison to the corresponding quarter last year. The sales in domestic market stood at 3.12 lakh units, lower by 31.4% in Q2 September 2019 as against Q2 September 2018 and its exports stood at 25,798 units this quarter.
NIIT jumped 4.41% to Rs 90 after the company announced its Q2 September results during market hours today. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit slumped 80.80% to Rs 209.30 crore on a 13.71% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 236.53 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q1 June 2018. EBITDA rose 6% to Rs 25.4 crore in Q2 September 2019 as against Rs 24 crore in Q2 September 2018.
Bandhan Bank rose 5.05% to Rs 584 after net profit jumped 99.28% to Rs 971.79 crore on a 66.15% rise in total income to Rs 3,050.54 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 1.76% as on 30 September 2019 as against 1.7% as on 30 June 2019 and 1.29% as on 30 September 2018. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 0.56% as on 30 September 2019 as against 0.59% as on 30 June 2019 and 0.69% as on 30 September 2018.
Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.819% at 14:14 IST compared with 6.678% in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the Indian rupee edged lower against the dollar in mid afternoon trade. In the spot currency market, the Indian unit was last seen trading at 71.055. The Indian rupee on Wednesday closed at 70.91 against the US dollar.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2019 settlement was down 41 cents at $60.76 a barrel. The contract rose 2.46% to settle at $61.17 a barrel during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2019 settlement edged 0.17% higher to Rs 38,067.
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