Domestic benchmarks ended their see-saw session lower on Tuesday, dragged by banks, financials and energy stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack fell 73 points or 0.09 per cent higher to end at 80,429. Headline index NSE Nifty slipped 30 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 24,479-level.
Railway stocks such as IRCON International, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd, RITES and Jupiter Wagons emerged were among the top losers in the BSE 500 pack today, sliding up to 7.99 per cent. Rail pockets were on a roll amid hopes of a hike in capital expenditure (capex) for railway infrastructure. Today's plunge came after the Union Budget 2024 kept capex unchanged at Rs 11.11 lakh crore.
A few defence counters such as Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) also felt the pain.
"On the sectoral front, the focus is largely positive. However, what stood out was the lack of mention of railways, defence or public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the Budget. These sectors have seen substantial growth and government support in recent years, making their omission a surprise to the market. This unexpected development has been reflected in stock prices," said Vaibhav Jain, Head of Business - Equities, Share.Market.
In addition, a further hike in long-term capital gain (LTCG) and short-term capital gain (STCG) taxes pinched investors. In an exclusive interview with Business Today TV, Shankar Sharma, Founder of GQuant Investech, said, "I'm astounded that the government would do such a thing, given the fact the (general) election numbers were a tad below the expectations."
"Just finished wiping my tears after the massive hikes in the capital gain taxes both for long-term and short-term," Sharma quipped.
In contrast, BSE 500 stocks such as Astrazeneca Pharma, CE Info Systems, Titan, Asahi India Glass, NCC, ITC and Suzlon Energy were among the top gainers today by surging up to Rs 13.16 per cent. Select pharma shares saw a sharp uptick today after the Budget 2024 exempted three more cancer medicines from customs duties.
Consumer stocks jumped as the government stressed on rural push, employment generation and agriculture.
Renewable energy shares climbed after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expanded the list of exempted capital goods for use in the manufacture of solar cells and panels to support energy transition.
"Further, in view of sufficient domestic manufacturing capacity of solar glass and tinned copper interconnect, I propose not to extend the exemption of customs duties provided to them," she added.
Shares of gems and jewellery makers soared after Sitharaman announced a cut in basic customs duty on gold and silver to 6 per cent from 10 per cent.
Titan Company jumped 6.63 per cent to Rs 3,468.15 while Senco Gold shares zoomed 4.75 per cent to Rs 987.55 on BSE. PC Jewellers closed 5 per cent higher at Rs 74.16.
Shares of Antony Waste Handling Cell, VA Tech Wabag and EMS Ltd gained up to 14.17 per cent as the Centre said it will promote water supply, sewage treatment and solid waste management projects and services for 100 large cities.
The finance minister also said these projects will envisage the use of treated water for irrigation and filling up of tanks in nearby areas.
Antony Waste is engaged in the business of mechanical power sweeping of roads and collection and transportation of waste. Va Tech is engaged in the water treatment field. EMS specializes in providing turnkey services in water and wastewater collection, treatment and disposal.
Nifty outlook
"Nifty remained highly volatile on Budget day as traders adjusted their positions in accordance with the announcements. On daily charts, a hammer kind of pattern has formed. On the lower end, immediate support is placed at 24,400. Heavy call writing at 24,500 indicates that the selling pressure will remain prevalent in the market until the index decisively breaches above 24,500. A fall below 24,400 might trigger a correction towards 24,200-24,000," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.