Bulls cheer budget: Sensex rallies 848 pts, Nifty above 17,500

The BSE Sensex jumped over 848 points on Tuesday, tracking heavy buying in metal and capital goods stocks, as investors cheered the big infrastructure boost provided in the Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. At 12 pm, the Sensex was up 892 points or 1.54 per cent at 58,906, while the Nifty jumped 235 points to 17,575. After touching an intra-day high of 59,032.20, the 30-share BSE index closed 848.40 points or 1.46 per cent higher at 58,862.57. Likewise, the NSE Nifty surged 237 points or 1.37 per cent to end at 17,576.85.Firm global cues also supported the rally in domestic equities, traders said.

Top firms like Deloitte, EY and KPMG have welcomed the announcements made by the finance minister in the budget. Some of the announcements that have been welcomed include a battery-swapping policy to promote e-vehicles infrastructure, e-skilling, ELCGS for MSMEs and other schemes aimed at promoting digitization."In this budget, the finance minister provided a springboard for an investment cycle with the highest ever share of capex, focus on the development of national manufacturing capabilities and clean energy, tax rationalisation with no new taxes while maintaining its continuous growth focus on Aatmanirbhar Bharat," Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE, said. Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, zooming 7.57 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, L&T, UltraCement, ITC and HCL Tech.