New Delhi | India’s markets slid on Tuesday as initial tallies signaled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party was struggling to win a majority of seats in national elections, a stunning result after exit polls showed he was on pace for a landslide victory.

The NSE Nifty 50 Index tumbled as much as 8.5 per cent in Mumbai, the biggest intra-day drop in more than four years, as early counts showed Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance were leading in more than 290 seats, slightly more than 272 needed for a majority in parliament and well short of the roughly 350 they won in 2019. The rupee and sovereign bonds also fell.

Bloomberg and Reuters