Uncertainty over Karnataka government formation subdue equities

Mumbai: Uncertainty over government formation in Karnataka, along with weak global cues led the key Indian equity indices to provisionally close the day's trade session in the red on Wednesday.

No party achieved a clear majority in the assembly election results announced on Tuesday, leading to uncertainty over the formation of the next government.

According to market analysts, heavy selling pressure was witnessed in banking, oil and gas and automobile stocks.

At 3.30 p.m., the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed at 10,741.10 points -- down 60.75 points or 0.56 per cent from the previous close of 10,801.85 points.

The barometer Sensex of the BSE, which had opened at 35,452.35 points, closed (3.30 p.m.) at 35,387.88 points -- lower by 156.06 points or 0.44 per cent -- from the previous day's close at 35,543.94 points.

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The Sensex touched a high of 35,543.89 points and a low of 35,241.63 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,606 declines and 1,016 advances.

The major gainers on the BSE were Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Wipro, Yes Bank, Tata Motors (DVR), while ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Hero MotoCorp, and Adani Ports were the major losers.

On the NSE, the top gainers were Hindustan Unilever, Lupin and ITC. The major losers were ICICI Bank, Cipla and UltraTech Cement.

--IANS