Market snaps 2-day gains, selling in banking, metal and IT
At close, the Sensex was down 426.85 points or 0.53% at 79,942.18, and the Nifty was down 126 points or 0.51% at 24,340.85.
The Sensex tanked by more than 700 points by around 2 pm in the afternoon of 2 February, a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018-19.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE was at 35,190.83, down 715.83 points or 2.01 per cent at 2.28 pm. This is the sharpest fall since August 2017.
On the National Stock Exchange, the wider Nifty50 fell 230.80 points or 2.09 per cent to 10,786.10 at the same time.
Advertisement
Markets took a plunge largely due to the reintroduction of the Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax in the Union Budget.
Read More: Union Budget 2018-19: Markets go down as LTCG tax returns
Presenting the Budget in the Parliament on 1 February, Jaitley brought back the LTCG. There will be a tax on LTCG at the rate of 10 per cent for gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh.
“The total amount of exempted capital gains from listed shares and units is around Rs 3,67,000 crores as per returns filed for AY 2017-18,” Jaitley argued to emphasize the need for the LTCG tax.
The return on investment in equity is already quite attractive even without tax exemption, he added.
“However, all gains up to 31 January 2018 will be grandfathered,” he said.
A heavy selling pressure in stocks of consumer durables, banking, capital goods, automobile and metals led the downward trajectory of the indices.
At the Sensex, shares of only TCS and ITC were in the green at the time of writing. Bajaj Auto had plummeted the most at 3210, or a fall of 5.82 per cent.
On Thursday, the benchmark indices had closed trade on a low note.
Advertisement
