Indian stock markets opened on a bearish note Friday, with the Sensex and Nifty registering declines as investors reacted to the unfolding Bihar Assembly Election results. Initial trends from the vote counting seemed to be driving market caution.
The BSE Sensex opened 231 points lower at 84,247.67, compared to its previous close of 84,478.67. The index touched an intraday high of 84,316.92 and a low of 84,042.75. The Nifty 50 also started lower, opening at 25,801, a drop of 77 points or 0.30%. It closed the previous day at 25,879.15. By midday, the Sensex was down over 300 points, and the Nifty slipped below the 25,800 level. The immediate resistance for Nifty is seen at 26,000.
Several factors contributed to the market's subdued performance. Global market cues were negative, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index losing 1.85% and South Korea's Kospi falling 2.29%. Foreign institutional investors (FII) turned net sellers, offloading shares worth Rs 383.68 crore on November 13, while domestic institutional investors (DII) were net buyers, picking up shares worth Rs 3,091.87 crore.
Analysts indicated that the market's reaction to the Bihar election results might be limited, unless the final results deviate significantly from exit poll projections. Exit polls had suggested a win for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), leading the market to anticipate policy continuity. However, any unexpected outcome could trigger a correction of around 5%-7%, potentially affecting policy continuity and political stability.
Market participants expected Friday's session to be volatile as investors awaited the final election outcome. According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, multiple factors are at play for the markets and the exit polls indicating strength for key NDA members is welcome news as it shows political stability and status quo.
Volatility may persist, but the path towards 26,000 remains open. Stocks in focus included Infibeam Avenues, Honasa Consumer, Samvardhana Motherson International and Muthoot Finance, all rising on strong Q2 FY26 results.
Technically, Nifty buy at 25,879 with targets of 26,000/26,277, and Bank Nifty buy at 58,382 with targets of 58,577/58,907 are preferred trades. POLYCAB, INDIGO and NYKAA remain attractive on early dips, with POLYCAB as the top pick for an interweek momentum play, according to Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.
The Bihar election polls were conducted between November 6th and November 11th in a phased manner. The parties competing for power will require winning 122 seats for a majority win.
