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Sensex surges on election; triggers trade halt
The BSE Sensex surged nearly 15 percent within seconds of opening on Monday, triggering circuit breakers that halted trade for two hours as investors celebrated a sweeping election victory for the ruling coalition.
If the markets extend gains when trade resumes at 11:55 a.m., they could trigger the final circuit breaker that shuts trade for the day.
It was the first time a circuit breaker has been set off by a rise in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), a spokesman said.
The benchmark 30-share BSE index rose 14.70 percent to 13,963.30 points, its highest since September 23, and the 50-share National Stock Exchange (NSE) index jumped 14.48 percent to 4,203.30, also an eight-month high.
Earlier, the BSE said its index had risen 10.7 percent before the halt.
"It is very surprising because the turnover was not much. It's very hard to understand how the circuit breakers have been triggered when the volumes are so low," T.S. Harihar, vice president at ICICI Securities, said.
Circuit breakers are set based on moves of 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent using the close to the previous quarter as a base. Triggering a circuit breaker in one market also closes the other.
The BSE index was up 1,789.88 points and the NSE index was up 531.65 points at the halt, both having crossed the 15 percent trigger limits.
When trade resumes, if the BSE index extended its rise by 160.12 points to 1,950 points or the NSE rose another 68.35 points to be up 600 points on the day, the 20 percent limit would be triggered and trade would be halted for the day. |
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