 "Markets weak post Budget, Sensex below 19000")
By 1:45 PM, Sensex plunged by 159 points at 18,993, and the Nifty down 54 points at 5,743 levels.
SBI is the top Sensex loser, down 4%. ICICI Bank, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, JSPL, RIL and HDFC have declined between 2-3.5%.
Shares of most the frontline banking stocks including public and private sector are trading lower on the bourses after the Finance Minister propose to continue the interest subvention scheme for short-term crop loans.
State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank are trading lower by 2-4% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
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(Updated at 1325 hrs)
Markets have turned volatile after the FM unveiled the Budget for 2013-14. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented one of the most highly anticipated Indian budgets of recent years on Thursday, as the government looks to contain rising fiscal deficit and restore confidence in Asia's third-largest economy.
He said that current account deficit continues to be high due to excessive dependence on oil, coal and gold imports and slowdown in exports and that India does not have choice between welcoming and spurning foreign investment. He termed FDI as 'imperative'.
He said that faced with huge fiscal deficit, he has no choice but to rationalise expenditure, for which "battle against inflation must be fought at all fronts".
The Securities Transaction Tax (STT) will be reduced on equity future, mutual fund and the Investor Protection Fund set up by depositories will be exempt from tax.
Chidambaram said fiscal deficit will be 5.2 per cent in current year and 4.8 per cent in the next fiscal.
By 13:00 PM, the Sensex was up 27 pts at 19,180 and the Nifty gained 5 pts at 5,802.
On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex has slipped by almost 1%. However, BSE Consumer Durable index has zoomed by almost 4% followed by counters like Realty, IT and FMCG, all gaining by nearly 1%.
Coal India is trading higher by 3% at Rs 320 after the state-owned company invited bids from bankers and interested parties for acquiring coal assets overseas. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government would encourage power purchase agreement projects.
HDFC bank, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and Sun Pharma have 1-2%. ITC is up by over 1% as the Specific excise duty on cigarettes and cigars has been raised by 18 per cent.
Realty shares are up after budget proposes additional deduction of Rs 1 lk. To encourage home buyers, a first housing loan of up to Rs 25 lakh would get additional deduction of interest of up to Rs 1 lakh in 2013-14. DLf is up over 2%.
Shares of companies engaged in education business such as NIIT, Educomp Solutions, Everonn Education and Aptech have rallied up to 9% on the bourses after the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposes higher allocations for the financial year 2013-14.
“The government proposed to allocate Rs 65,867 crore to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which is an increase of 17% over the RE of the previous year,” the Finance Minister said in its budget speech.
“The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Right to Education Act are firmly in place. I propose to provide Rs 27,258 crore for SSA in 2013-14,” he added.
Among the individual stocks, Everonn Education has rallied 9% to Rs 70.85, followed by NIIT (7% at Rs 25.25), Educomp Solutions (4% at Rs 88) and Aptech (3% at Rs 49.05) on BSE.
Shares of commercial vehicle makers today rose by as much as 2.6% after Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed to allocate Rs 14,873 crore for JNNURM for urban transportation in 2013-14.
Tata Motors moved up by 2.58% to Rs 293.40, while Ashok Leyland jumped 2.15% to Rs 23.25 on the BSE.
Among other auto stocks, Hero MotoCorp was trading 0.65% higher, while Bajaj Auto was up 0.27%.