After rallying for eight sessions in a row, the domestic equity market took a breather on Thursday as it ended around 0.5 per cent lower even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced 12 measures under 'AtmanirbharBharat 3.0' to revive the economy.
Indian economy, the FM said, is seeing a “strong recovery” taking root in the economy, as seen by increased goods and service tax collections and other metrics.
Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex settled 236 points, or 0.54 per cent lower at 43,357 levels while NSE's Nifty ended at 12,691, down 58 points, or 0.46 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 6.5 per cent to 20.6 levels.
The broader market, however, fared better than the headline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.5 per cent higher at 15,741 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rallied over 1 per cent to 15,466 points.
Sectorally, Nifty PSU Bank index slipped the most - down over 2 per cent to 1,400 levels while Nifty Bank fell 2 per cent to 28,279 points.
Realty and fertilizer stocks, on the other hand, rallied in the trade.
Among individual stocks, Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates and Brigade Enterprises from the Nifty Realty index were up 1 per cent each, recovering by up to 2 per cent from their respective intra-day lows on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The government announced relaxations in income tax rules to allow the sale of primary residential units of up to Rs 2 crore value below the circle rate.
Similarly, shares of agri-related companies including fertilisers and agrochemicals traded higher by up to 8 per cent on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise weak market after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new set of stimulus measures including Rs 65,000-crore fertiliser subsidy to farmers.
Global markets
Global shares were on course on Thursday to end their longest winning streak in over a year, one that has lifted them more than 10%, as the post-U.S. election and coronavirus vaccine bull run paused.
In commodities, gold prices edged up as concerns over the economic fallout from surging Covid-19 cases outweighed positive development around a vaccine. Oil prices, however, fell.