The Sensex soared 848 points while the Nifty reclaimed the 17,500-mark on Tuesday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a bigger, ₹39.45-lakh crore Budget, with higher spending on infrastructure to spur economic recovery and create jobs.
Metal, realty and cement stocks saw robust buying, while selling in auto and telecom counters capped the gains.
After a strong start, the BSE Sensex succumbed to a sudden bout of selling following the Budget presentation, but staged an immediate rebound to end 848.40 points or 1.46% higher at 58,862.57, marking its second straight session of gains. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty surged 237 points or 1.37% to end at 17,576.85. Tata Steel hogged the limelight in the Sensex pack, zooming 7.57%, followed by Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, L&T, UltraCement, ITC, Titan and HCL Tech.
In contrast, M&M, PowerGrid, SBI, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Maruti and Reliance closed in the red, shedding up to 1.67%.
Ms. Sitharaman on Tuesday presented her fourth Budget, with higher spending on sectors ranging from highways to affordable housing with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to help sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic.
‘Some balance missing’
“It is a long-term growth oriented budget which the market has welcomed, given no headroom for cautiousness and populist measures. It is expected to support growth in the future; however, it is missing some balancing measures in the context of current inflationary and slowing economy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“High capex, fiscal deficit and borrowing plans in the background of a high inflation, commodity and oil prices and rising interest rates will be challenges in the short to medium-term.”
“The Finance Minister provided a springboard for an investment cycle with the highest ever share of capex, focus on the development of national manufacturing capabilities and clean energy, tax rationalisation with no new taxes while maintaining its continuous growth focus on Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE.
Sector-wise, the BSE metal index soared 4.92%, followed by basic materials, capital goods, FMCG, healthcare, realty, industrials and information technology.
However, oil & gas, auto, energy and telecom lost up to 0.91%. The BSE smallcap and midcap gauges spurted as much as 1.08%. Global stocks began February on a firmer footing, spurred by overnight gains on Wall Street. Elsewhere in Asia, b Bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo finished with gains.
Rupee slides
Markets in China and South Korea were closed for a holiday.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.24 per cent to USD 89.05 per barrel.The rupee pared its initial gains and settled 17 paise lower at 74.82 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out ₹3,624.48 crore on Monday.
