Shares of public sector enterprises and state-owned banks tumbled up to 15 per cent on Tuesday as benchmark equity indices plunged after the initial trend showed the BJP winning a lesser number of seats than predicted in exit polls.

The Nifty PSU Bank Index witnessed a steep fall by dropping 839.55 points or 10.49 per cent to 7,166.60, with the scrip of Punjab & Sindh Bank declining 14.75 per cent to Rs 55.50. Indian Bank dropped to Rs 528.75 and Union Bank was trading marginally lower at Rs 148.90 on the NSE.

In addition, shares of public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) plunged 11.73 per cent to Rs 799.45 apiece.

Shares of Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda fell 10 per cent each to Rs 123.30 and Rs 267.25 apiece, respectively.

“The numbers for NDA are subdued and below expectations. So we are witnessing profit booking as investors are nervous. We need to wait one more hour for greater clarity,” Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at Mumbai-based Wealthmills Securities told news agency Reuters.

“But we can see profit booking continuing and extending if these trends continue,” he said.

The Nifty Bank index went lower by 2,806.40 points or 5.50 per cent to 48,173.55. Further, the Nifty Bank recorded the biggest fall since February 2022.

The Nifty PSE indices too slumped 1,221.55 points or 10.78 per cent to trade at 10,110.25, with the shares of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), PFC, RECL, and Bharat Heavy Electricals dropping 15 per cent.

Additionally, Hindustan Aeronautics, Container Corp of India, ONGC, Coal India, NTPC, Gas Authority of India, SAIL and Power Grid also fell 10 per cent each on the NSE.

In the late morning session, the 50-share NSE Nifty tanked 1,371.85 points or 5.9 per cent to 21,892.05.

Around noon, the Sensex witnessed a decline of over 5,000 points, while the Nifty dropped by over 1,600.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for the third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.

In trends available till 11.45 am, the NDA was close to the 300 mark, comfortably over the magic figure of 272 with the opposition INDIA bloc making significant gains.

(With agency inputs)