Interim Budget Fails To Appease Market; Railway Dips While EV Rocks

The Indian stock market closed with negligible change in the Thursday trading cum Interim budget session. The much-awaited interim budget did not come with any major declaration leading the benchmark indices, Nifty and Sensex to submit their early session gains. The US Fed also negated rate cuts in March resulting in sluggishness in the market.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index traded flat with 28 points or 0.13 per cent loss to 21,697 whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex settled 0.15 per cent lower at 71,645 levels after the closing bell. 

In the Nifty50 index, Maruti rallied highest with 4.43 per cent gains followed by 2.71 per cent gains in Eicher Motors. Power Grid, Eicher Motors and SBI Life also gained more than 2 per cent. Overall, 18 stocks advanced in the index and Reliance closed flat.

In the laggard segment, 31 stocks declined on the index. Infra stock namely, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro and Grasim Industries fell more than 2 per cent after the interim budget. Dr Reddy and JSW Steel also dipped 2 per cent. 

Analyst View

“Nobody was expecting any major announcement in this Budget and hence we saw a range-bound trend with a negative bias. Global markets too were subdued and hence select profit-taking was seen in telecom and realty stocks,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

“While we did not expect any major announcements in this budget, the lower fiscal deficit coupled with higher capex outlay will aid the continued momentum of India's growth story. Both of these moves are enablers for a pickup in the private capex cycle,” said Ashish Gupta, CIO of Axis AMC.

Sectoral Movement

In terms of sector performance, mixed trade was witnessed with no uniform movement. PSU Banks scaled highest with more than 3 per cent gains followed by Auto, FMCG and Banks. On the other side, IT, Pharma and Metal remain muted. 

Besides, the more domestically focussed indices, mid-cap traded 0.56 per cent lower, while the small-cap index gained 0.63 per cent.

Among Nifty 50 stocks, Canara Bank surged 4 per cent, while PNB and Container Corp also gained nearly 4 per cent. Gujarat Gas and PNB gained almost 5 per cent. Max Financial Services and Torrent Power gained 1.14 per cent and 1.13 per cent respectively. 

Conversely, Aurobindo Pharma lost almost 7 per cent as the US FDA inspected the firm’s manufacturing facility. Voltas traded 4 per cent lower while Escorts Kubota and Jubilant Foodwork lost more than 3 per cent.

Stock Specific

Paytm remained in focus as the stock was welcomed by a 20 per cent lower circuit on the bourses after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ceased certain transactions of the firm effective from 29 February.

Interim Budget Reaction

Post interim budget, Olectra Greentech, Mothersons and Greaves Cotton experienced more than 1.5 per cent gain after the declaration on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Rail Vikas Nigam or RVNL, Railtel, IRFC, Jupiter Wagons, Titagarh Railways and IRCTC were among the stocks which plunged between 4 per cent to 1 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Notably, RVNL traded as the biggest laggard with 3 per cent loss.