Sensex drops over 1,000 points amid Lok Sabha vote counting

New Delhi: Indian stock markets took a significant hit today following a sharp rally in the previous session. Early vote-counting trends indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance was leading in over 272 seats, but the full extent of their victory remained uncertain.

By 9:30 am, the NSE Nifty 50 index had dropped 3.03% to 22,557, while the S&P BSE Sensex declined 3% to 74,107.

This decline came after a remarkable surge on Monday, where both benchmarks rose more than 3%, reaching record highs. That session marked the best performance in nearly 40 months, spurred by exit polls predicting a likely two-thirds majority for the BJP-led alliance in the lower house.