Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade in Budget 2023-24.
Investors also awaited the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision for further cues.
The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 158.18 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 59,708.08 after it trimmed most of the intra-day gains. During the day, it had zoomed 1,223.54 points or 2 per cent to 60,773.44. In contrast, the broader NSE Nifty declined 45.85 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 17,616.30.
“A well-tuned budget with strong emphasis on consumption and capex has lifted optimism in the market; however, volatility sparked in the latter half as focus shifted back to the Adani saga and FOMC meeting.
“Life insurance players witnessed heavy selling as the budget pushed for the new tax regime, making insurance products less appealing as a tax-saving tool,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Stock markets have reacted well to the provisions immediately due to absence of any major unexpected negatives and adherence to fiscal prudence, said Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities.
The markets will now look forward to the other triggers -- the US Fed meet outcome, RBI’s next MPC meeting and the balance Q3 corporate results, he added.
“In a nutshell, I would state this budget to be prudent, progressive and pragmatic,” Relli noted.
ITC was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 2.61 per cent, despite the Budget hiking the tax on cigarettes by 16 per cent. Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Infosys were among the other winners.