Weekly review: Markets end Budget week in green

This was an extremely eventful week for the markets. Events like the Railway Budget, economic survey and the the Union Budget were presented before the people. The Sensex gained 1.4% or 238 points to end at 16,429 this week.

With economy back on track, FM Pranab Mukherjee partially reversed stimulus measures, laying the foundation for more growth.

The overall verdict on the Budget, however, is positive, given that it has addressed some key concerns and has struck a fine balance between stimulating economic growth and curtailing the government’s fiscal deficit. Measures such as the fiscal roadmap and the changes in the personal income tax slabs were sentiment changers on Dalal Street.

The Railway Budget was however not greeted cheerfully by the investors and those railway stocks which rallied in the last few weeks slipped after the rail budget failed to meet the market expectations.

The BSE midcap was down 0.5% and the small cap declined 1.5%, respectively.

Among the Sensex-30 stocks, ITC was the major dragger, shed 6.5% at Rs 232. Reliance Communication, Tata Power and Hindustan Unilever declined 2-3% each.

Hindalco on the other hand surged 8% to Rs 150. Maruti, Larsen & Toubro, Hero Honda, ICICI Bank, Sterlite and SBI have soared 4-7% each.

The other major gainers were Infosys, ACC, Jaiprakash Associates, DLF, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, up 2-3% each.

Among the sectoral indices, FMCG index slipped 3% to 2,662. Consumer Durables and oil & gas indices were the other major sectoral losers, down 2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Metal was the major gainer on the sectors, advanced 4% to 16,401. Bankex, capital goods, auto and IT stocks followed it, up 2-3% each.