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Markets have reversed its gains and have slipped in the negative territory as investors turn cautious and book profits post the Budget announcement.
At 3.10 PM, the Sensex is trading at 25,365 levels lower by 79 points and the Nifty is trading at 7,567 levels down by 17 points.
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( updated at 3.10 PM)
-Markets came off their day's highs in late trades as investors booked profit at higher levels post the Budget annoucement.
At 3:18PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 98 points at 25,348 and the 50-share Nifty was down 24 points at 7,564.
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(updated at 2:16PM)
Markets were trading near their day's highs in late noon trades on Thursday after the Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to revive economic growth.
At 2:16PM the 30-share Sensex was up 425 points at 25,870 and the 50-share Nifty was up 127 points at 7,712.
The Indian rupee was trading lower at Rs 59.88 compared to the previous close of Rs 59.75.
Asian markets were trading mixed with Shanghai Composite nearly unchanged, Hang Seng was up 0.2%, and Straits Times was up 0.2%. The Nikkei ended down 0.56% at 15,216.47
On the personal taxation front, the personal income tax has been hiked to Rs 2,50,000 from Rs 2,00,000 while for senior citizens the tax limit has been hiked to Rs 3,00,000 from Rs 2,50,000. The Budget has also proposed hike in investment under 80C to Rs 1,50,000 from Rs 1,00,000 and exemption on self occupied property to Rs 2,00,000 from Rs 1,80,000 earlier. The PPF limit has also been hiked to Rs 1,50,000 from Rs 1,00,000 earlier.
The recovery was led by gains in Infosys, ICICI Bank, ONGC, HDFC, L&T contributing the most to the Sensex gains.
However, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Ind and SBI were the top Sensex gainers.
ITC also trimmed gains and was trading marginally lower after the hike in excise duty on cigarettes and related products to be hiked by 11-72%.
Realty, Power and Capital Goods indices were the top sectoral gainers on the BSE.
Meanwhile stock specific section was seen following the Budget proposals related to the sectors.
Shares of real estate companies ended higher after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposes to increase interest cap limit to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh on self-occupied houses and the proposal to set up real estate investment trusts.
DLF, DB Realty, Prestige Estates, Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL), Indiabulls Real Estate and Phoenix Mills have rallied between 4-5% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
IRB Infrastructure Developers has moved higher by 3% to Rs 244 after the Finance Minister proposed investments of Rs 37,500 crore in highways and roads.
In a big relief to the capital-starved private insurance sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed raising the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap from 26 % to 49 %. Max India was up 0.4% at Rs 296.
The proposal for new urea policy boosted sentiment for fertiliser companies. FACT was up 1.7%, RCF was up 1.12%. National Fertilisers was up 1.2% at Rs 42. Gujarat State Fertiliser was up 3.5% at Rs 79.
Thomas Cook was up 3.2% at Rs 117 while Cox & Kings was up 0.1% at Rs 243 following the proposed e-visas.
The Finance Minister also proposed measures and allocated Rs 500 crore towards rural power. PFC, Tata Power and NTPC were up 1-4% each.
Jain Irrigation was up 3.2% at Rs 118 following the proposed allotment of Rs 1,000 crore towards irrigation scheme.
The foreign direct investment in defence has been raised to 49%. BEL was down 1% at Rs 1,938 while Astra Microwave was flat at Rs 132.
The Budget has also proposed hike in FDI in insurance sector to 49%. Bajaj Finserv was up 3%, Max India was up 2.4%, Aditya Birla Nuvo was up 4% at Rs 1,385.
State-owned banks were trading mixed after the proposals to sell shares. He also proposed that Rs 2,40,000 crore need to be infused in the banking sector by 2018 to meet global Basel III norms.
Bank of Baroda was up 2%, SBI was up 2%, PNB was up 2.6%. and Canara Bank was up 3%.
The Finance Minister also stressed the need to revive the infrastructure and need for Public Private Partnership (PPP) to develop world class convention facility. L&T was up 3%. BHEL which manufactures coaches for metro rail was up 2% after the proposed allocation of Rs 100 crore towards metro projects in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
Container Corp was up 3%, Gateway Distriparks was up 2% on allocation of Rs 5,000 crore to increase warehousing capacity.
Pune-based companies gained on the proposed infrastructure corridor. Kolte Patil was up 5.7% and Bharat Forge was up 5% at Rs 650.
The plan to increase the gas pipeline grid by 15,000 kms also augured well for gas distributors. Indraprastha Gas was up 1.4%, Gail India was up 2.5%.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index and Small-cap indices were up 2.4%.
Market breadth was strong with 1,798 gained and 936 losers on the BSE.
