Benchmark indices ended lower a day after the Union Budget was presented in the Parliament.

At close, the Sensex was down 280.16 points or 0.35% at 80,148.88, and the Nifty was down 65.50 points or 0.27% at 24,413.50.

Among the sectors, Nifty Bank index fell 0.89%, while the Private Bank index and the PSU Bank index fell 0.76% and 0.35%, respectively.

Nifty Financial Services was down 0.60% and FMCG by 0.53%. On the gaining side were Nifty Media (2.47%), Nifty Oil and Gas (1.69%), Consumer Durables (1.08%), Realty (0.78%) and Pharma (0.74%).

On Nifty 50, the top gainers were HDFC Life (4.36%), Tech Mahindra (3.12%) and BPCL (2.91%). While the losers were Bajaj Finserv (2.09%), Tata Consumer (1.90%) and Britannia (1.88%).

On BSE, over 200 stocks touched their 52-week high including NTPC, ITC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Max Financial, Indraprastha Gas, CG Consumer, Deepak Nitrite, Federal Bank, Glenmark Pharma, and Oracle Financial Services, among others.

The mid- and small-cap segments outperformed the benchmarks with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.68%, while the Smallcap index jumped 1.91%.

Due to the gains in the mid and small-cap stocks, the overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to nearly Rs 449.6 lakh crore from nearly Rs 446.4 lakh crore in the previous session.

As the finance minister proposed to cut the customs duty on gold and silver to six per cent in the Union Budget 2024, the Jewellery stocks extended their shine.

A reduction in Basic Customs Duty on gold and silver from 10% to 6% and Agriculture Infrastructure & Development Cess (AIDC) from 5% to 1% was announced.

It will effectively reduce the overall taxes on gold from around 18.5% (including GST) to 9%.

Jewellery firms such as PC Jeweller, Senco Gold, Thangamayil Jewellery and Titan clocked sharp gains in trade.

Gold rate on MCX traded higher recouping sharp losses in the previous session, tracking gains in international bullion prices ahead of the release of key economic data in the US.

MCX gold contracts for August delivery traded 0.42% higher at ₹68,801 per 10 grams, while MCX silver contracts for September delivery were up 0.21% to ₹85100.00 per kg.

Indian rupee ended at 83.71 per dollar on Wednesday against Tuesday’s close of 83.69.

With the Budget over, the market has shifted focus to Q1 earnings, the macro environment, global cues, and stock fundamentals.

Experts believe that the upward revision in long-term and short-term capital gain taxes will weigh on market sentiment for the short term.