These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Equity benchmarks shrugged off lacklustre global cues to clock smart gains on Tuesday, buoyed by strong buying interest in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC twins. However, a depreciating rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows capped the gains, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 562.75 points or 0.94 per cent to settle at 60,655.72.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought response from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the bail plea by former managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in connection with the co-location case. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain issued notice on the bail application and listed the case for further hearing on May 31. The trial court had dismissed the bail plea of the former NSE boss on May 12 and said that no ground for bail was made out at this stage.
The broader NSE Nifty moved between 10,705 and 10,785.55, before ending 25.15 points, or 0.23 per cent down at 10,716.55.
'It will be a cat and mouse game between investors and the government.' 'The issue will be launched only if there is sufficient demand from investors and the government is in agreement with the bankers on the valuations.'
Sliding for the fourth straight day, the BSE Sensex shed 152 points in choppy trade on Wednesday amid mixed global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty halted their five-day rally on Tuesday and settled deep in the red, mirroring weak global markets, with decline in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank. Despite opening with gains of over 200 points, the 30-share Sensex turned highly volatile and tumbled 709.17 points or 1.26 per cent to close at 55,776.85. During the day, the benchmark index plunged 1,067.07 points or 1.88 per cent to 55,418.95. The broader NSE Nifty also declined 208.30 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 16,663.
The sharp rally in the markets thus far in fiscal 2023-24 (FY24) has left analysts struggling to find investment-worthy themes. The S&P BSE Sensex has surged nearly 7 per cent thus far in FY24 and hit a fresh 52-week high of 63,601.71 levels on June 22, mostly led by foreign institutional (FII) flows. "The Indian market has seen a broad rally in the past few months but headline indices have seen more modest performance. "We are not very clear about the reasons for the rally and the divergent performance and struggle to find ideas in the consumption, investment and outsourcing sectors after the sharp run-up in several of our favored sectors and stocks in the past two months," wrote Sanjeev Prasad, co-head, Kotak Institutional Equities, in a recent co-authored note with Anindya Bhowmik and Sunita Baldawa.
The 30-share Sensex ended down 538 points at 26,781 and 50-share Nifty ended down 152 points at 8,067.
Financial shares were among the top Sensex gainers along with auto and pharma shares.
The BSE Sensex spurted 130.00 points to end at 35,980.93, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 30.35 points to 10,802.15.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, SBI, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Sun Pharma and ITC. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
The rupee had risen for the fifth straight session on Thursday.
This is the biggest equity-raising exercise by an Indian corporate within a financial year. The fundraising - led by Citibank, Goldman, Kotak and Axis Capital as bankers - will see participation by foreign and domestic institutional investors.
Investor sentiment got a big push after Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped below the USD 73-mark to quote at a seven-month low of USD 72.65 by falling 3.48 per cent, traders said.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sinking over 5 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and NTPC. NSE Nifty tanked 371 points to 16,614.20.
Govt rules out controls on FII capital as Sensex tanks 3.97%, rupee breaches 62 intra-day & gold surges the most in two years
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached an all-time high of Rs 288.50 lakh crore on Wednesday amid an ongoing rally in equities, as the benchmark Sensex settled above 63,000-level for the first time ever. The 30-share BSE barometer climbed 417.81 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 63,099.65, its fresh record closing high. During the day, the benchmark jumped 621.17 points or 0.99 per cent to 63,303.01, its lifetime intra-day peak. Extending its winning momentum to seventh day, the Sensex has rallied 1,954.81 points or 3.19 per cent during this time.
Gains in key IT, capital goods, healthcare and metal stocks, after consistent buying by domestic and foreign investors, helped both the key indices to scale new peaks.
Kotak Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by ITC, PowerGrid, M&M, HDFC, Asian Paints and NTPC. On the other hand, Maruti rallied over 4 per cent. Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance were also among the gainers.
The move is expected to stabilise yields, volatile in the recent past.
The NSE index Nifty ended above the 10,500-mark.
The broader NSE Nifty slipped below the 10,500-mark by falling 103 points, or 0.97 per cent, at 10,482.20. It touched a high of 10,645.50 and a low of 10,464.05 during the day.
Increased demand for the dollar from importers affected the value of the rupee
The indices closed with losses for the week, with the Sensex declining 476.14 points, and the broader NSE Nifty falling 155.45 points during the period.
Sustained FII inflows and fresh spell of buying by domestic institutional investors fuelled the rally
TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by L&T, Bharti AIrtel, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty rallied 164.70 points to its fresh closing peak of 16,529.10.
The broader Nifty finished at 10,421.40, up 194.55 points, or 1.90 per cent.
Appreciating rupee against the dollar and fresh buying by domestic institutional investors added to the momentum
'As the Indian economy continues to expand over the next three years, mid- and small-caps should do well as they have higher exposure to the domestic economy than large-caps.'
Listed companies have seen equity deals worth Rs 23,500 crore in March.
Kotak Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank. NSE Nifty declined 45.75 points to 16,568.85.
This was India's time; with a strong central bank governor and a new decisive government, anything was possible.
The broad-based NSE Nifty hit a low of 10,979.30 intra-day, managed to end above the 11,000-level at 11,027.70, down 21.95 points, or 0.20 per cent.
ICICI Bank, ONGC and Tata Motors contribute to nearly 50% gain seen on the Nifty.
Tata Steel was the top gainer among the Sensex constituents, surging around 8 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Kotak Bank, ONGC and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Titan, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank were in the red.
Top losers in the session included Maruti, Tata Motors, RIL, Yes Bank, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, ONGC, HUL, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank, falling up to 5 per cent.
Sentiments took a hit after broader Asian markets weakened, following a renewed sell-off on Wall Street on Tuesday as energy shares dropped after crude oil prices plunged to a 13-month low amid weak earnings and US-China trade disputes, fuelling worries about economic growth
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at 65.2525 and for the euro at 72.1954.