Market declines due to foreign investor selling, weak quarter earnings
At the close, the Sensex fell by 1.2 per cent or 942 points to 78782.24, while the Nifty dropped 1.27 per cent or 309 points to 23995.35.
The Sensex was down 676.51 points or 0.84% at 79,825.57 while the Nifty was down 234.50 points or 0.96% at 24,274.80 at noon.
On the day of the Budget presentation, about 1286 shares advanced, 2028 shares declined, and 90 shares unchanged. All sectors, barring FMCG, slipped into losses.
Among some of the major announcements, the Finance Minister raised Security Transaction Tax on futures and options to 0.02% & 0.1%.
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She also announced that no Angel Tax will be levied on all classes of assets.
The Finance Minister said the short term gains on certain financial assets will be 20%, rest as applicable tax rate. Long term capital gains will be 12.5% while the listed financial assets held for more than a year will be classified as long term.
FMCG stocks rose after the Finance Minister announced schemes to boost employment in the Union Budget 2024, as higher incomes will raise the demand for consumer staple products.
“The government has five schemes to facilitate employment and skilling for 4.1 crore youth central outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore,” she said.
Further, the power stocks also rose after the measures announced to support renewable energy and develop nuclear energy.
The Finance Minister highlighted the government’s focus on energy transition. On the rooftop solar program, Sitharaman said that the “Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar Yojana” that aims to enable 1 crore households to obtain free electricity of 300 units every month has already seen 1.28 crore registrations and 14 lakh registrations.
She added that pumped storage projects will be announced for renewable energy projects in the coming days. Research and development of nuclear reactors, she added, is also underway.
Further, the agri stocks also surged upto 11% after the announced measures to bolster agricultural productivity and strengthen production of pulses and oilseeds in the Union Budget of 2024.
In addition, Sitharaman also announced an allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors.
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