Sensex bleeds as poll losses threaten reforms

The BSE Sensex fell for a third straight session on Wednesday, led by market bellwether Reliance Industries, as a poor election result for the ruling Congress party appeared to pour cold water on an already-struggling reform agenda.

“The market has lost quite a lot of value and, on Wednesday, we saw it is largely confused on the trend, as we look towards the Budget next week," said Deven Choksey, chief executive officer at K R Choksey Shares and Securities in Mumbai.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark, Sensex, closed down 0.16 per cent at 17,145.52, with all but 13 of its components in the negative territory.

The index, which fell a combined 2.63 per cent on Monday and Tuesday to hit its lowest close in more than five weeks, has slipped seven per cent since February 21, when it hit its highest close in nearly seven months.

Reliance Industries, the country’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, closed down 1.9 per cent at Rs 761.80.

Shares in state-run oil marketing companies also fell on rising global oil prices and fears that a long-awaited rise in fuel prices would be delayed in the political aftermath of the Congress' performance in UP.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp ended 4.2 lower at Rs 298.60, while Bharat Petroleum Corp closed at Rs 659.35, down 1.4 per cent. Indian Oil Corp fell 2.6 per cent to end at Rs 272.90.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange closed down 0.04 per cent at 5,200.45.

In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers by a ratio of around 2:1, on a volume of about 769 million shares.

Investor sentiment was also muted by negative headwinds overseas, as global markets fell on renewed uncertainty over Greece's bailout and mounting worries about slowing global economies.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.82 per cent at 3:40 pm, while the benchmark indexes in Japan and South Korea ended down 0.64 and 0.91 per cent, respectively.