The Sensex erased all the gains of Tuesday morning, after BJP struggled to reach the halfway mark of 112 seats to form the next government in Karnataka. As news of Congress backing JD(S) unconditionally to stake a claim to form the government poured out, the indices reacted negatively.
Sensex ended 12.77 points down at 35543.94, while the broader Nifty50 was 4.75 points down at 10801.85, on Tuesday.
When the markets closed , the BJP was leading on 104 seats out of 222 seats for which counting was being carried out. Congress was ahead on 78 assembly seats with JDS holding lead on 38 seats.
Earlier in the day, the Sensex rose over 350 points and Nifty hit 10,900 for the first time since February 2, 2018 amid the early trends showing BJP leading in the Congress-ruled state. The BJP looked set to emerge as winner leading on more than 110 seats in contest for 222 assembly seats. The Congress was a distant second leading at 64 seats, followed by Janata Dal (Secular) holding gains at 45 seats but as the Narendra Modi led party faltered ahead of the halfway mark, benchmark indices turned volatile and fell into negative territory.