The Indian benchmark indices declined the most in a month on Friday after a key constituent of the ruling alliance at the Centre quit the coalition. The Indian markets were also weighed down by indices elsewhere in Asia.
The BSE Sensex fell over 500 points to 33,176, down 1.5% since Thursday’s close, and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50 fell 165 points to 10,195.15. The decline was the biggest single-day fall since February 6, according to PTI.
Earlier on Friday, the Telugu Desam Party quit the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, upset about the Centre’s refusal to grant Andhra Pradesh special status. The party was the coalition’s third-largest constituent in the Lok Sabha with 16 MPs, and its only ally in the south. Later, the party also moved a no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha. The House was adjourned till Monday.
Only four stocks gained on the Sensex, and the best of them – Mahindra & Mahindra – rose only 0.9%. The other three gainers were Wipro, Hindustan Unilever and Yes Bank. These were the top four gainers on the Nifty 50 as well.
The stocks that declined the most on Sensex were Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp and NTPC. The top five losers on Nifty 50 were Indian Oil Corporation, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cements, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Asian Paints.
The rupee was lower against the United States dollar, at 64.97 at 4.15 pm, against 64.93 at previous close.
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