Assembly Election Results 2018: Sensex down by over 500 points, rupee slides below 72

The domestic stock markets went down in an opening trade on Tuesday morning as counting of votes cast in assembly elections of five states was underway. At 9:30 am, the Sensex traded at 34,458.060, down 501.66 points or 1.43 per cent and the Nifty50 was at 10,356.85, with a loss of 131.60 points or 1.25 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex opened at 34,584.13 and the Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange started at 10,350.05.

Sensex at 34,458.86, down by over 500 points pic.twitter.com/Df7mxEzmxm

— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2018

At the same time, the Indian rupee (INR) slumped against the US dollar. The rupee was trading at 72.46 against the US dollar, down 1.5%, as compared to yesterday’s close of 71.32. The 10-year government bond yield rose to 7.71%. The result of the assembly polls in the five states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana are set to be declared on Tuesday, in what is being viewed as semi-finals for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The counting of the votes is expected to begin by 8 am and a clear trend is likely to emerge by afternoon. Another factor which will affect the markets on Tuesday would be the sudden and shocking exit of RBI governor Urjit Patel. He announced his resignation on Monday following a series of events as an ongoing spat between the central bank and the government.