Budget 2018: Bloodbath on Markets; Sensex Closes 839 Points Down, Nifty Tanks 256 Points

The Indian stock markets opened in the red on Friday, a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2018.

Mumbai, Feb 2: The Indian stock markets traded in red on Friday, a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2018. With bloodbath on the markets, while BSE Sensex ended 839.91 points or 2.34 per cent down at 35,066.75, the NSE Nifty was down by 256.30 points or 2.33 per cent at 10760.60. BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance were among the top losers while TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech were the top gainers.

Investors appeared wary after Budget 2018 announced a tax of 10 per cent on Long Term Capital Gains while the tax on Short Term Capital Gains remained unchanged. In his Budget speech on Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to tax long-term capital gains on equities exceeding Rs 1 lakh at 10 per cent.

According to market observers, heavy selling pressure in consumer durables, banking, capital goods, auto and metals stocks added to the downward trajectory of the indices.

Around 11 am, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 35,707.60 points, traded at 35,401.63 points — down 505.03 points or 1.41 per cent from its previous close.

On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended over 58 points lower in highly volatile trade with markets appearing to have given a thumbs down to Budget proposals. The indices also took a hit after the fiscal deficit target for 2017-18 was raised to 3.5 per cent of GDP as against 3.2 per cent earlier.

The target for 2018-19 has been fixed at 3.3 per cent as against the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act target of 3 per cent.

(With inputs from agencies)