Increased spending for the farm sector and revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent in the Interim Budget for 2019-20 on Friday buoyed the Indian equity market during the pre-noon trade session on Friday.
As Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented the Interim Budget in the Lok Sabha, healthy buying was witnessed in the auto stocks.
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At around 11.45 am, the Sensex traded at 36,396.98 points, higher by 140.29 points or 0.39 per cent from the previous close of 36,256.69 points.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 10,872.25, higher by 41.30 points or 0.38 per cent from the previous close.
“Auto stocks seem to be in demand while bank stocks are witnessing some setback,” said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.
“The revised FY19 fiscal deficit at 3.4 per cent is welcome. The farm package costing Rs 75,000 crore a year is prudent. Markets are eagerly awaiting the fiscal deficit target for FY20, the method of raising monies for farm package as well as tax changes.”
As widely expected, the finance minister announced the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi for small and marginal farmers, providing Rs 6,000 per year to be transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, HUL, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and L&T, rising up to 3.78 per cent.
(With PTI inputs)