Informist, Thursday, Feb 1, 2024
By Padmini Dhruvaraj
MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended the choppy session marginally lower even as the Interim Budget for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) surprised the Street with some positive outlays. The government focused on controlling the fiscal deficit and increased the capex spending, but the Street was disappointed that taxation was kept unchanged. Further, the weekly expiry of the Nifty 50 options derivatives added to the volatility in the market.
“Despite several positive aspects, there is a slight sense of disappointment regarding anticipated tax relief and a boost in consumer spending, particularly in light of the approaching general election. This sentiment may have a marginal adverse effect on consumer stocks,” Vivek Goel, co-founder and joint managing director of Tailwind Financial Services said in a note.
The Nifty 50 index opened higher tracking gains in selective heavyweight stocks and also rose above the 21800-mark before the Budget announcement began at 1100 IST. However, it fell more than 100 points during the event and turned choppy for the rest of the day.
Eventually, the 50-stock index ended 28.25 points, or 0.1%, lower at 21697.45 points, while the 30-stock Sensex closed 106.81 points, or 0.2%, down at 71645.30 points. In the choppy session, India VIX, popularly known as the fear gauge, fell nearly 10% to 14.46 points.
“There was no takeaway for equity markets from the Budget, it was a statement of account,” Dharmesh Kant, head of equity research at Cholamandalam Securities, said. “It is not a growth Budget, it is more of a fiscal consolidation Budget, so that won’t be taken positively by markets in the short term. Expect a reaction tomorrow (Friday) as people go into the findings and try to understand if there is anything hidden in that,” he added.
The broader indices were under pressure during the day and the midcap stocks saw some profit booking as the Budget announcements did not meet expectations, said Raj Deepak Singh, head of derivatives research at ICICI Direct. All three Nifty small-cap indices on the NSE rose 0.1-0.6%, while the three Nifty midcap indices fell 0.6-0.7%.
The Nifty PSU Bank index was the top-gainer among sectoral indices with 3.1% closing gains. The index, which was also choppy in the morning, recovered during the Budget announcements as the government projected a fiscal deficit of 5.1% of GDP for the next financial year starting April and lowered the target for 2023-24 (Apr-Mar) to 5.8% of GDP. “Lowering fiscal deficit is a boost for banks and capex was a good surprise,” Jay Patel, head of research at Investmentor Securities, said.
Further, the Nifty Auto, Nifty Energy, and Nifty Bank indices were the other sectoral gainers. Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index erased all of its intraday gains. The Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty were the worst-hit sectoral indices.
Railway stocks such as Rail Vikas Nigam, Titagarh Rail Systems, Indian Railway Finance Corp, IRCON International, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp gained as the government announced railway infrastructure-related schemes in the Interim Budget for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government plans to build three rail corridors for energy, minerals, and cement under the PM Gati Shakti plan. These corridors are expected to reduce transport costs and boost GDP growth, she said. These stocks, however, turned negative to end 0.5-3.7% lower due to profit booking, analysts said.
Additionally, some hotels and travel companies’ stocks rose more on the back of the government’s overall thrust on boosting domestic tourism. The government plans to give states long-term interest-free loans for tourism and the government will work on projects for tourism infrastructure in islands, such as Lakshadweep, and port connectivity in island territories, Sitharaman said. Shares of Thomas Cook (India) rose 7.6%, while those of Samhi Hotels closed 2.2% higher.
Among individual stocks, One97 Communications shares plummeted 20% after the Reserve Bank of India barred Paytm Payments Bank from accepting deposits or conduct credit transactions or top-ups in any customer account, prepaid instrument, wallet, FASTag, and National Common Mobility Card after Feb 29.
Further, shares of Maruti Suzuki India rose 4.4% today and was the top-gainer among the Nifty 50 stocks. The automobile stock rose after reporting a strong year-on-year growth in key earnings metrics for the December quarter. The company’s standalone net profit surged 33% on year to 31.30 bln rupees in Oct-Dec, and its revenue from operations rose 15% to 333.09 bln rupees. Meanwhile, shares of UltraTech Cement were the worst-hit stock in the Nifty 50 with 2.4% losses.
On Friday, analysts expect the Nifty 50 to be range-bound and stock-specific action will be on the cards. The index is expected to find support at 21500 points and face resistance at 21800 points.
* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 15 rose and 35 fell
* Of the Sensex stocks, 10 rose and 20 fell
* On the BSE, 1,813 stocks rose, 2,028 fell, and 102 were unchanged
* Nifty Media: down 1.1%; Nifty Metal: down 1%; Nifty PSU Bank: up 3.1%
BSE NSE
Sensex: 71645.30, down 106.81 pts, or 0.15% Nifty 50: 21697.45, down 28.25 pts, or 0.13%
S&P BSE Sensitive Index Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 72720.96 (Jan 12, 2024) : Lifetime High: 21928.25 (Jan 12, 2024)
Record Close High: 72568.45 (Jan 12, 2024) : Record Close High: 21894.55 (Jan 12, 2024)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan 1) : 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan 1)
2024 Closing High: 72568.45 (Jan 12) : 2024 Closing High: 21894.55 (Jan 12)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan 23) : 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan 23)
2024 High (intraday): 72720.96 (Jan 12) : 2024 High (intraday): 21928.25 (Jan 12)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan 24) : 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan 2) : 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec 28) : 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb 27) : 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec 28) : 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan 30) : 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan 3) : 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec 1) : 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun 17) : 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec 1) : 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun 17) : 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct 14) : 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29) : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct 14) : 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan 29) : 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan 29)-
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec 31) : 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar 23) : 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec 31) : 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar 24) : 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec 20) : 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb 19) : 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug 28)) : 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar 23) : 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec 26) : 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec 26)
End
Edited by Manisha Baxla
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