BSE Sensex opens 600 points down after BJP loses Bihar elections in landslide

The benchmark BSE Sensex plunged over 600 points, or below 25,000 in early trade on Monday after the BJP lost the Bihar elections in a landslide on Sunday.

Soon after the open, the 30-share index, 9:33 am was trading down 433.18 points, or 1.65% at 25,832.06.

Also, the NSE Nifty was trading down 141.95 points, or 1.78% at 7,812, in early trade. On the global market side, Asian stocks were mixed, with Japanese and Chinese shares up, while the dollar stood at a 7-month high against peers on Monday after robust US jobs data bolstered expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December.

On Sunday, the Mahagathbandhan led by Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JD-U) and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won the Bihar elections winning 178 out of 243 seats. The BJP could manage only 53 seats, and the BJP-led alliance only 58 seats. The stock markets, usually positively attuned to a rise in the fortunes of the BJP, collapsed quickly on Monday morning before recovering slightly.