Indian equity markets remained shut on Thursday as polling for the municipal corporation elections took place in Maharashtra. Trading was suspended across both major exchanges—the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)—in observance of the polling day.
All trading segments on the NSE and BSE were closed for the day, with market activity scheduled to resume on Friday after the one-day break.
The commodity market, however, operated on a restricted timetable. Commodity trading remained suspended during the first half of the day and is set to reopen after 5 pm, allowing participants to trade in the evening session.
Despite the market holiday, activity in the primary market remained strong. The initial public offering (IPO) of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) drew an overwhelming response from investors, with the issue being subscribed 98.51 times overall. The robust demand reflected strong participation across investor categories for the Coal India subsidiary.
The retail investor portion of the issue was subscribed 37.92 times, indicating healthy interest from individual investors. The Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) segment saw subscriptions of 170 times, while the Non-Institutional Investors (NII) category recorded the highest demand, with bids reaching 203 times.
The BCCL IPO is a book-built issue worth Rs 1,071.11 crore and consists entirely of an Offer for Sale (OFS), with Coal India Limited divesting up to 46.57 crore equity shares. The heavy oversubscription highlights sustained investor appetite for primary market offerings, even amid a temporary halt in secondary market trading.
In the previous trading session on Wednesday, domestic equity benchmarks extended their decline for a second straight day. The Sensex fell 245 points, or 0.29 per cent, to close at 83,382.71, while the Nifty 50 slipped 67 points, or 0.26 per cent, to settle at 25,665.60.
Most sectoral indices ended in negative territory, although pockets of strength were seen in metals and public sector banks. The Nifty Metal index gained 2.70 per cent, while the Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.13 per cent.
Markets opened lower on Wednesday and remained under pressure throughout the session, continuing the sell-off from the previous day amid concerns over the proposed 25 per cent US tariffs on countries engaged in trade with Iran.
