Indian shares, the rupee and bonds all fell on Thursday on jitters ahead of the outcome of the national election, which could have serious effects on the progress of economic reforms deemed crucial by investors.
The 30-issue Mumbai share index closed 0.78 percent lower at 5,668.43 points, shrugging off a buoyant earnings report from Reliance Industries Ltd.
While another heavyweight, Hindustan Lever, unveiled disappointing results on Thursday, Reliance - which makes up around 12 percent of the Bombay index - reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
"The election verdict holds the key, and unless there is clarity on the shape of the new government, no amount of good news will cheer the market," said Paras Adenwala, head of equities funds at Birla Sun Life Asset Management.
The index has now dropped in two of the past three days and has shed 4.4 percent after exit polls late Monday, following the third of five phrases of voting, showed the ruling coalition may fail to retain a majority. Final poll results are due May 13.
The government has been pushing ahead with difficult but market-friendly reforms such as privatisation, which has attracted a flood of foreign investment into the country.
Shares of Reliance, India's biggest petrochemicals maker and a refiner, fell 2.1 percent to 529.20 rupees, despite reporting a 29 percent rise in quarterly earnings and beating analysts' forecasts. Hindustan Lever, the biggest consumer goods maker with a five percent weight-age in the Mumbai index, fell 0.6 percent to 143.95 rupees after its past quarter profits fell short of expectations.
Federal bonds recovered a big chunk of the day's losses as cash-flush traders piled back in to positions they had exited in a morning selling spree triggered by political uncertainty.
The yield on the 10-year benchmark ended at 5.1356 percent, three basis points off the day's peak of 5.1654 percent, but still higher than the previous close of 5.1220 percent.
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