The Indian stock market is trading cautiously ahead of the Union Budget presentation as investors expect some tax relief. The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened flat in early trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 136 points while NSE Nifty rose by 20 points. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to present her historic 8th successive Budget at 11 AM. The Budget is likely to outline the economic roadmap for the financial year ahead. Most sectoral indices have seen an upward movement ahead of the Budget speech. Nifty Realty and Nifty Energy led the gains as investors expect increased capital expenditure and energy sector allocations.
While mixed, the Nifty Oil and Gas, Nifty Finance, and Nifty Bank moved around. Renewable energy stocks like Inox Wind, Inox Wind Energy, KPI Green, and Suzlon moved up, anticipating positive policy announcements. Defence stocks like BEML and Hindustan Aeronautics moved up too.
India equity markets have had extreme growth since the pandemic. This spurt has been because of the growing number of retail investors. During the last four months, this trend was a downward trend; however, still, the government is optimistic that the market is resilient. During yesterday’s release of the Economic Survey, it was noted that a “meaningful correction in 2025 could have a cascading effect and ensure higher participation of new retail investors.
India remains the world’s largest major economy which is growing fastest, Chief Economic Adviser V Ananta Nageswaran said. This survey projects 6.3-6.8% for the financial year beginning this April.
