Sensex witnesses 400-point swing as Modi government faces no-confidence motion

NEW DELHI: Benchmark equity index Sensex closed nearly 150 points in the red after hitting a new all-time high in the morning as investors turned wary after opposition parties tabled a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the Parliament.
The 30-share BSE index closed at 36,373.44, down 146.52 points. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty also slipped considerably in mid-day trade, losing the key 11,000-mark from the above 11,050-level it was trading at in the morning.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday accepted a no-confidence motion moved by TDP's Kesineni Srinivas against the NDA government. The Speaker notified that the discussion on no-confidence motion will take place on Friday.
The development proved to be a major trigger for the equity market with Sensex plunging almost 300 points in less than half an hour (from 36,633.69 at 11.57 am to 36,336.95 at 12.21 pm).
“Uncertainty is killing the market right now,” news agency Reuters quoted Sumit Pokharna, vice president, Kotak Securities, as saying.
Earlier, in the morning session, the Street opened on a buoyant note hitting a fresh all-time high of 36,747.87 on back of strong global cues and government's plan to inject more than Rs 11,000 crore in five PSBs.
The turn of events in the markets resulted in all the sectoral sub-indices finishing in the red, with Nifty Metal losing the most at 3.15 per cent.
ONGC, Asian Paint and Yes Bank stocks gained the most.