Sensex steadies after early excitement from exit polls; Shalby down 4%

The stock market maintained a steady line after a strong opening today as exit polls predicted that the BJP would win Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

The 30-share BSE index came off its early high, but was still up 269.51 points -- 0.81% -- at 33,516.21 at 1128 hours.

For the 50-share Nifty, the reading was above the key 10,300-mark at 10,342.55, a gain of 90.45 points, or 0.88%.

 Shares of multi-specialty hospital chain Shalby Ltd made a sluggish debut on bourses today, falling more than 4% over the issue price of Rs 248.

The stock listed at Rs 237, down 4.43% over the issue price on BSE. It later dipped 4.75% to Rs 236.20.

On NSE, the stock debuted at Rs 239.70, falling 3.34% as compared to the issue price.

In volume terms, 12.07 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 68 lakh shares changed hands on NSE during the morning trade.

Coal India, which advanced 2.55%, was in the lead. HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports and L&T too advanced.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth Rs 232.17 crore yesterday. But domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded equities to the tune of Rs 374.21 crore.

Overseas, Asian markets edged lower, with Japanese and Hong Kong markets leading the decline, after US markets closed in the red.

US stocks closed lower yesterday as a few Senators raised some concerns about the tax bill.