India’s stocks fell, led by Reliance Industries Ltd. and Infosys Technologies Ltd., on concerns of a political logjam after no political party appeared likely to emerge as a clear winner on the last day of general elections.
Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market value, declined 1.4 percent as exit polls, banned during the five weeks of voting, were expected to show the ruling Congress party was unlikely to win an outright victory.
Infosys, the country’s second-largest computer-services provider, fell 1.5 percent. DLF Ltd., the No. 1 real estate developer, declined 0.6 percent after its founders sold a 9.9 percent stake.
“Markets remain volatile during election times. It’s all part of the game,” said Rajen Shah, chief investment officer at Angel Broking Ltd., who manages funds for wealthy clients. “Polls will impact the market in the short term only. The long- term story is positive for the markets.” Results of the polls will be released on May 16.
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, fell 138.38, 1.1 percent, to 12,019.65, after swinging between gains and losses at least seven times.
The S&P CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange lost 1.3 percent to 3,635.25. The BSE 200 Index declined 0.8 percent to 1,416.63. SGX Nifty futures for May delivery fell 1.2 percent to 3,641.5.
The country’s marathon elections ended today, with the world’s largest democracy facing the prospect of political gridlock amid the slowest economic growth in six years and rising militancy in neighboring Pakistan.
Exit Polls
Exit polls, banned since 714 million voters began casting ballots, may show today that neither the Congress party nor the main opposition can form a government. Pre-election surveys pointed to a hung parliament, raising the prospect of a repeat of 1996 elections when the new administration collapsed after just 13 days.
Reliance slid 1.4 percent to 1,933 rupees and Infosys dropped 1.5 percent to 1,573.95 rupees.
DLF lost 0.6 percent to 234.8 rupees. Shareholders of the country’s biggest developer raised 38.6 billion rupees ($783 million) selling a stake, according to data on Bloomberg.
The founders plan to use the proceeds from the sale to raise their holdings in DLF Assets Pvt. by acquiring D.E. Shaw & Co.’s shares in the unit, the company said in a separate statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Chairman Kushal Pal Singh and his family own about 88.6 percent of DLF as of March 31, according to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Suzlon Energy Ltd., India’s biggest maker of wind turbines, declined in Mumbai after about 30 million shares, or 2 percent of its equity, were traded in a single block deal at 82 rupees apiece on the National Stock Exchange. The stock lost 4.9 percent to 76.9 rupees.
Overseas funds bought a net 1.82 billion rupees ($37 million) of Indian stocks on May 11, according to the nation’s stock market regulator yesterday.
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