Stocks That Defied Tuesday's Rout: Market Wrap

Indian equity gauges tumbled to log their worst session in over four years, as poll trends indicated a closer-than-expected fight for the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. But, consumer goods stocks bucked the selloff to emerge as the only winners on Tuesday.

The NSE Nifty 50 closed 1,379.4 points, or 5.93%, lower at 21,884.5, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended down 4,389.7 points, or 5.74%, at 72,079. Intraday, Nifty fell as much as 8.52% to 21,281.4, the highest intraday fall since March 23, 2020; while Sensex declined 8.15% to 70,234.4.

During the session, the Nifty 50 companies' market capitalisation loss widened to Rs 10 lakh crore, while the Nifty recorded its biggest intraday decline in over four years.

After opening at Rs 83.24, the Indian rupee weakened 38 paise to Rs 83.53 against the US dollar. The yield on the 10-year bond was trading 10 bps higher at 7.04%.

The stock volatility gauge, India VIX—which fell over 22% after exit polls—rose over 51% to 31.7 during the session. This is the biggest intraday jump since Aug. 24, 2015.

The rising VIX isn't solely due to election dynamics, but also due to global factors such as escalating tensions in the Middle East; rising US Treasury yields also exacerbated market concerns, according to Trivesh D, chief operating officer, Tradejini.

The unexpected outcome of the general election sparked a wave of fear selling in the domestic market, reversing the recent substantial rally, according to Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Investors in sectors that have topped in the past five years, including power, capital goods, real estate, and industrials, are advised to exercise caution in the near term, he said. "Nevertheless, the long-term growth prospects for these sectors remain robust."

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Britannia Industries Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. cushioned the fall.

While shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and State Bank of India weighed on the index.

All Nifty sectors fell, except Nifty FMCG. Nifty PSU Bank declined the most by 15.1%.

Broader markets underperformed benchmarks. The S&P BSE Midcap settled 8.07% lower, and the S&P BSE Smallcap closed down 6.79%.

On BSE, 19 out of 20 sectors closed lower, and one settled higher. S&P BSE Utilities was the worst performing sector, and the S&P BSE FMCG was the top sector.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of sellers. Around 3,337 stocks declined, 500 advanced, and 97 remained unchanged on the BSE.