Markets come off from day’s lows in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets came off from day’s lows in late afternoon session but continued to trade in red as government’s decision to raise tax on gains from equity investments has continued to dent investor’s sentiments. Banking sector stocks witnessed selling pressure. Besides, market shifted its focus on Q1FY25 earnings and global cues. Traders overlooked Finance Minister in budget announced overall outlay for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is about Rs 13,000 crore, marking a significant increase of 73.60% over the previous year’s Revised Estimate (RE). On the global front, European markets were trading lower dampened by luxury stocks after dour results from LVMH weighed on sentiment, and as a raft of lacklustre corporate earnings added to the sombre mood. All Asian markets were trading lower after lacklustre earnings from U.S. tech behemoths Tesla and Alphabet dented risk appetite. Traders watching out for an inflation reading on Friday and Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79978.52, down by 450.52 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 79750.51 and 80519.58. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 1.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.45%, Energy up by 1.43%, Consumer Durables up by 1.37%, Utilities up by 1.24% and Power was up by 1.02%, while Bankex down by 1.27%, FMCG down by 0.39%, Auto down by 0.28%, TECK down by 0.21% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.46%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.36%, NTPC up by 1.94%, Titan Company up by 1.22% and Sun Pharma up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.78%, Axis Bank down by 2.22%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.91% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after the Finance Minister presented the Union Budget for 2024-25, Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, electronic & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that economy is much resilient today and is on a strong footing than in the past. 

Union Minister also said that the economy today is a combination of welfare, fiscal prudence, capital investment and investment in manufacturing, adding that the budget presented by the Finance Minister is a continuation of the economic policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on inclusive growth that have been the mainstay of this Government in the last ten years. He further said that government has placed a special emphasis on making the Railways world-class.  

For this FY 2024-25, the government has allocated record Capex to Rs 2,62,200 crore for Railways. The Gross Budgetary support is Rs 2,52,200 crore for Railways during 2024-25. Earlier, the Gross Budgetary Support to Rs 2,40,200 crore in 2023-24 which was only Rs 28,174 crore in 2013-14. The result of infusion of Capex is clearly visible as Indian Railway (IR) has achieved an all-time high freight loading of 1588 MT in FY 2023-24 up from 1095 MT in 2014-15 and Railway is inching towards the goal of 3,000 MT by 2030. Railways achieved all time high total receipts of Rs 2,56,093 crore in 2023-24 and generated a Net Revenue of Rs 3,260 crore to supplement Capex.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24388.05, down by 91.00 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 24307.25 and 24504.25. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.87%, Tata Motors up by 2.51%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.37%, NTPC up by 2.05% and BPCL up by 2.01%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.78%, Axis Bank down by 2.07%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.98%, Tata Consumer down by 1.98% and Britannia down by 1.87% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 439.54 points or 1.12% to 39,154.85, Hang Seng declined 158.31 points or 0.91% to 17,311.05, Jakarta Composite plunged 50.47 points or 0.69% to 7,263.39, KOSPI dropped 15.58 points or 0.56% to 2,758.71, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.42 points or 0.46% to 2,901.95 and Straits Times was down by 0.61 points or 0.02% to 3,460.55.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 45.95 points or 0.56% to 8,121.42, France’s CAC fell 120.95 points or 1.59% to 7,477.68 and Germany’s DAX was down by 180.39 points or 0.97% to 18,377.31.