News digest: Budget 2019, options trade, artificial intelligence, and more

Finance Commission report to determine stance on medium-term fiscal forecast

Budget may stick to fiscal rectitude
 
The 2019-20 interim Budget, which will be Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s last before the 2019 general elections, will serve as a vision document for the Narendra Modi government’s economic policy approach as it looks to secure a second term in power. It will also continue the theme of fiscal consolidation, which has been seen in all of this administration’s Budgets. Read more
 
Options trade gains pace as elections near
 
Market participants have begun taking positions in the derivatives market to protect their portfolios from any adverse election outcome.