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Markets ended marginally higher, amid a choppy trading session, led by infrastructure and private lenders even as ITC extended losses following the steep excise duty hike on cigarettes proposed in the Budget.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 98 points at 29,459 and the 50-share Nifty gained 55 points at 8,957.
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(Updated at 2:15PM
After a robust opening on hopes that Budget announcements will increase corporate earnings and push growth, markets have turned choppy in the late noon trades as ITC, the most influential stock in the benchmark indices, continued its sell-off after the Finance Minister raised excise duty on cigarettes in the Union Budget.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 98 points at 29,459 and the 50-share Nifty gained 55 points at 8,957.
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(Updated at 2:15PM
After a robust opening on hopes that Budget announcements will increase corporate earnings and push growth, markets have turned choppy in the late noon trades as ITC, the most influential stock in the benchmark indices, continued its sell-off after the Finance Minister raised excise duty on cigarettes in the Union Budget.
At 2.15PM, the 30-share Sensex is up 7 points at 29,369 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 23 points at 8,926.
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap index and Smallcap indices are outperforming the large counterparts and are up between 0.7-1%. Market breadth in BSE is negative with 1,321 declines against 1,225 advances.
On the macroeconomic front, the HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit fell for the second consecutive month, to 51.2 in February from 52.9 in January implying that manufacturing activity expanded at its slowest pace in five months in February on slowdown in new orders dragging overall output.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 614.03 crore on Saturday, as per provisional data.
"A very good budget overall , well balanced. A lot has been done for the rural economy and to create enhanced rural employability through Skill India initiative. The budget has also provided 'clear communication' to investors for next 4 years - a) GAAR has been postponed by 2 years, b) fund managers could relocate to india without attracting permanent establishment related tax, c) clarity in subsidy structure, d) creation of special economic zone in gujrat, e) incentive for REITS, f) monetising of gold assets to convert unproductive assets to productive. Another commendable point is the extreme focus on black money and the stringent laws attached. This should discourage people from having any sort of unaccounted income. The recognition that we need to move towards a cashless society and encourage more debit and credit card transactions is also a step in the right direction. Though the fiscal deficit target has been put at 3.9 percent instead of 3.6 percent, the money is spent at the right places like infrastructure, skill development, creating ease of business and employment opportunities. So overall very positive and balanced budget." said Priyanka Khurana Goyal, Vice President,Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities Pvt Ltd
Key Stocks
On the sectoral front, BSE FMCG index is down over 2% followed by Consumer Durables, Auto, Metal and Realty indices trading lower up to 2%. However, BSE Capital Goods index is the top gainer up 3% followed by Power, Bankex and Healthcare indices trading higher up to 2%.
Infrastructure stocks like L&T and BHEL are up 4% are trading firm on today's session boosted by the promise of increased spending on the sector by the Union Budget 2015.
Among bank stocks, Axis Bank is up 5%, ICICI Bank has gained 0.4% and HDFC Bank is up 2%. The fungibility of FII and FDI in the Budget proposal would allow private sector lenders to raise additional foreign capital.
Wipro is up around 1.5% while Infosys is trading flat and TCS is down 0.5%. CS has launched Business Process Innovation and Simulation & Visualization a Service (VaaS) in a strategic partnership with iRise, the global leader in enterprise visualization and simulation software.
Pharma stocks are trading higher after the government allocated Rs 33,152 crore to the health sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech. Cipla has gained 2.5%, Dr Reddys Lab is up 1% and Sun Pharma is trading higher by 0.3%.
Maruti Suzuki India today reported 8.7 per cent increase in total sales in February at 1,18,551 units as against 1,09,104 units in the same period of last year. The stock is up 2%.
ITC has extended losses and is trading lower by around 4%. In his budget proposals, Finance Minister raised excise duty on cigarettes by 25% for cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm, and by 15% for cigarettes of other lengths.
Bajaj Auto has dipped nearly 4% after reporting a 22% year on year (yoy) decline in total sales in February at 243,319 units as against 313,294 units posted in the same month last year.
Arun Jaitley said the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will be implemented from April next year. GST is expected to bring higher revenue for government and many benefits to corporate. HUL is trading with marginal gains%.
Shares of cement manufacturers have surged with most of the frontline companies trading at their lifetime high on expectation of demand in the wake of Rs 70,000 crore additional investment in infrastructure proposed in the Budget.
UltraTech Cement (up 7% at Rs 3,350), ACC (4% at Rs 1,754) and Ambuja Cements (4% at Rs 283) have touched their respective all-time high price on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
