Indian Markets Pause for Maharashtra Polls, Bounce Back in Oversold Zone

Indian stock markets took a break for Maharashtra elections, with the BSE and NSE closed on Wednesday. Despite ongoing foreign investor sell-offs, domestic markets showed recovery on Tuesday due to oversold conditions. Ajay Bagga remains cautious about persistent economic challenges impacting India’s growth.

Stock exchanges across India, including the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), remained closed on Wednesday due to assembly elections in Maharashtra. This suspension in trading activities is in line with the public holiday declared by the Maharashtra government to facilitate voter participation in Mumbai and other parts of the state.

The BSE's trading holiday list confirmed the suspension of all trading activities in the Equity Segment, Equity Derivative Segment, and SLB Segment. Trading is expected to resume as usual on Thursday, November 21. After persistent selling pressure earlier this week, domestic markets showed signs of recovery on Tuesday, attributed to oversold conditions, market analysts indicate.

Despite the bounce back, foreign investors continue to sell off shares, with sales reaching Rs 3,411.73 crores on Tuesday. Conversely, domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 2,783.89 crores. Banking and Market Expert Ajay Bagga emphasized that issues like foreign portfolio investor sell-offs, downgrades in corporate earnings, slower economic growth, and high real interest rates still loom. He described the market bounce as a rebound from oversold zones and added that it's too early to determine if foreign selling is truly subsiding.

In Asian markets, mixed trends were observed on Wednesday, with indices in most regions trading lower. However, South Korea's KOSPI and Jakarta Composite were exceptions, trading positively. On Tuesday, Indian indices like the Sensex and Nifty returned to the green zone, recovering from the extended losses of the past week. Sectorally, Nifty Auto, Media, Realty, and Consumer Durables led the gains, while sectors like Metal, PSU Bank, and Oil and Gas lagged according to NSE data.

(With inputs from agencies.)