Sensex, Nifty start session with caution on Budget Day

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start on the special trading session on Sunday amid weak global cues and cautiousness ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27 presentation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2026 in the Lok Sabha at 11 am today. This will be her ninth consecutive Budget. Market participants are looking for the measures to support economic growth and boost for capital expenditure. Sensex and Nifty were trading flat with positive bias in early deals amid buying in auto stocks ahead of their monthly sales numbers. Some support came as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the negotiations for a proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US are progressing, and both countries are working to close the deal quickly. 

On the global front, the US markets ended lower on Friday amid renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased by much more than expected in the month of December. 

Back home, metal stocks remained in limelight following a sharp decline in commodity prices. Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), tracking gold prices in India, witnessed a sharp sell-off on Sunday, following a massive correction in the global and domestic precious metal markets last Friday.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82333.85, up by 64.07 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 82119.31 and 82499.50. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.73%, Capital Goods up by 0.65%, Industrials up by 0.54%, Utilities up by 0.28% and Power up by 0.28%, while Metal down by 2.35%, Basic Materials down by 1.32%, IT down by 1.06%, TECK down by 0.76% and Realty down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.23%, Sun Pharma up by 1.75%, Power Grid up by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.88% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.98%, Tata Steel down by 1.09%, Titan Company down by 0.99%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.83% and Asian Paints down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its data has showed that the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of December stood at Rs 8.55 lakh crore, or 54.5 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 56.7 per cent in the year-ago period. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.

According to data, the central government received Rs 25.25 lakh crore or 72.2 per cent of the corresponding budget estimates (BE) of 2025-26 of total receipts up to December 2025. It comprised Rs 19.39 lakh crore of tax revenue (net to Centre), Rs 5.39 lakh crore of non-tax revenue, and Rs 46,047 crore of non-debt capital receipts.

The data showed that Rs 10.38 lakh crore was transferred to states as devolution of share of taxes by the central government during April-December, which is Rs 1.37 lakh crore higher than the year-ago period. Total expenditure incurred by the central government was Rs 33.8 lakh crore (66.7 per cent of the corresponding BE 2025-26), out of which Rs 25.93 lakh crore was on the revenue account and Rs 7.87 lakh crore on the capital account. Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9.11 lakh crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 3.17 lakh crore on major subsidies.

Meanwhile, the Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled in Parliament on January 29, showed that the government is well on track to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent of GDP estimated for the current financial year based on broad trends.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25334.70, up by 14.05 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 25252.30 and 25346.85. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.12%, Bharat Electronics up by 2.05%, Sun Pharma up by 1.74%, Power Grid up by 1.52% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.00%, Infosys down by 1.90%, Nestle down by 1.63%, Coal India down by 1.09% and Adani Enterprises down by 0.82% were the top losers.