Budget Day jitters: Sensex, Nifty display turbulence following fiscal plans

The domestic equity market indices ended with marginal losses in a volatile session on  February 1 (Budget day). Losses in banks largely weighed on domestic benchmark indices. Apart from this, Paytm shares plummeted 20% after RBI imposed restrictions of its payments bank.At close, the Sensex was down 106.81 points or 0.15 percent at 71,645.30, and the Nifty was down 28.25 points or 0.13 percent at 21,697.45. About 1467 shares advanced, 1762 shares declined, and 75 shares unchanged.
Stocks and Sectors
Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Eicher Motors, Power Grid Corporation were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included UltraTech Cement, L&T, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, JSW Steel and Grasim Industries.
Mixed trend was seen on the sectoral front, with auto, bank, FMCG and power added 0.3-0.8 percent, while capital goods, metal and realty down nearly a percent each.The BSE midcap index shed 0.3 percent, and the smallcap index ended flat.
On 01 Feb'24,the Indian rupee appreciated 9 paise to 82.95 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday,as market participants remained cautious ahead of the interim Budget.Forex traders said the Rupee was trading in a narrow range as the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.
Experts Take:
On budget 2024 date, market experts have recommended nine stocks to buy for Thursday- GPIL, RVNL, McDowell-N, M&M, IOL Chemicals, Olectra Greentech, Century Textiles, Voltas, and Ratnamani Metals.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)