Indian Benchmark indices opened in negative territory as the Union budget proved to be a non-event to the market participants. The Sensex opened in red at 80,343.38, down 85.43 or 0.11 per cent while the Nifty 40 also opened in red at 24445.00, down 34 points or 0.14 per cent. The Bank Nifty showed a similar trend opening at 51657.70, lower by 120.60 points or 0.23 per cent.

Among the sectoral stocks Bank, Auto, Financial Services, IT, Pharma, Private Bank, Realty, and Healthcare traded in red during the initial hours of the trade.
On the other hand the sectoral stocks of FMCG, Media, Metal, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Oil and Gas traded in red.
The stock market experienced significant volatility during the announcements of the Union Budget on Tuesday.

Following the presentation of the Union Budget 2024, domestic indices closed marginally down on the last day.
During the trade hours last day, the stocks of consumer durables, FMCG, and pharma sectors saw buyers flowing following the incentives proposed by the Finance Minister.
The greater emphasis on employment, skilling, and continued infrastructure spending affected the market movement on Tuesday.

“Overall budget has proved to be a non-event, with Indian markets falling and then recovering during the day itself. DIIs bought strongly, while FIIs unloaded a large amount on Budget Day. DIIs went in short and are holding a massive Rs 125,000 crore in cash, which will get allocated slowly. That will support the markets, with massive liquidity sitting on the sidelines waiting to buy at every dip. The risk will now come from a global deterioration,” said Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert.
The overseas investors turned net sellers in the Indian market on Tuesday after almost a week. The foreign investors offloaded the stock worth Rs 2,975.3 crore on the budget day. While the domestic investors were the net buyers with Rs 1,418 crore as per the National Stock Exchange (NSE) data.

“Technically, the Nifty 50 charted a small negative candle with a long lower shadow, resembling a bullish hammer pattern, suggesting potential for a rebound. Despite recent volatility, the index has held above its 10-day and 20-day EMAs for several weeks, indicating resilience,” said Varun Aggarwal MD, Profit Idea.
Asian markets mirrored Wall Street’s losses, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi both trading lower on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures pointed to a flat opening.

In the US, major indices closed slightly lower on Tuesday amidst earnings reports from Alphabet and Tesla. The Dow Jones declined by 57.35 points (0.14 per cent) to 40,358.09, the S&P 500 dropped 8.67 points (0.16 per cent) to 5,555.74, and the Nasdaq Composite edged down by 10.22 points (0.06 per cent) to 17,997.35. Tesla shares fell 2 per cent in regular trading and an additional 8 per cent in after-hours trading, while Alphabet saw a modest increase of 0.1 per cent.