Indian stock markets moved higher during the trading session on Friday, ahead of the Economic Survey, which shall be presented in the parliament later today. Following that, the focus of Dalal Street shall move towards the Union Budget 2025 scheduled tomorrow, that is, on February 1, 2025.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Economic Survey 2024-25 in Parliament today, ahead of the Union Budget 2025. The Budget session commences on January 31, 2025, with the Budget presentation scheduled for February 1, 2025. Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran will address the media at 2:30 PM following the presentation of the pre-budget document in Parliament between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM on January 31, 2025.
The FM will table her eight Union Budget on Saturday, February 1, 2025.
BSE Sensex surged more than 530 points, or 0.69 per cent, 77,290.49, while NSE's Nifty50 gained nearly 200 points, or 0.86 per cent to 23,448.70 on Friday. In the broader markets, BSE midcap and smallcap indices gained 1-1.5 per cent in the morning trade and managed to hold their gains. Fear gauge India VIX tanked about 4 per cent to 16.65 level during the day.
The Economic Survey is prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance, it evaluates key economic indicators including growth deceleration, rupee depreciation against the US dollar, and changes in consumer spending patterns. It is a crucial document that provides an analysis of the Indian economy's performance over the past year.
The Budget will influence the market today and tomorrow. Since we are going into the Budget without a pre-Budget rally, the probability of a rally, post Budget, will be high if the Budget delivers on growth stimulating initiatives like cuts in personal income tax, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Service.
"The medium to long-term trend of the market will be dictated by GDP and earnings growth. Therefore, investors should look for cues on these crucial macro trends," he said. "Market is strongly reacting to results with good results being rewarded and poor results getting punished. This has spiked the market volatility. Fairly-valued high quality largecap financials continue to be a safe sector for investors."
All the sectoral indices of Nifty were trading higher. The Nifty Consumer Durable index jumped about 2 per cent, while the Nifty FMCG, realty and auto indices gained 1.5 per cent each. Nifty Oil & Gas and financial services indices gained about a per cent each for the day.
In the Nifty50 pack, Tata Consumer Products and Trent stole the show, with a 5 per cent gain in both the Tata Group counters. Third Tata Group stock Titan gained more than 4 per cent, while Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank and Nestle India rose 3-4 per cent each.
On the downside, only four Nifty stocks were seen in red. Bharti Airtel cracked about 2 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank which shed more than a per cent. Tata Consultancy Services and Kotak Mahindra Bank were down marginally, making up for the loser's pack.
Volatility is expected in the stock market as investors gear up for the Union Budget 2025, to be presented by the FM, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities. "Key reforms in income tax, agriculture, and fiscal consolidation are anticipated, potentially driving Nifty above the 25,500 mark," he said.
The action was mostly seen in the broader markets, with counters like Kalyana Jewellers and Wockhardt rising 10 per cent each. Navin Fluorine International, Garden Reach Shipbuilders, GAIL (India) PG Electroplast and BEML rose 7-8 per cent each. Mazagon Dock, Anand Raj, Cyient, BHEL, JBM Auto were among the key gainers for the day, rising up to 6 per cent.
Among the losers, Whirlpool of India dropped 9 per cent amid the promoter stake sale news, while Jindal Steel & Power cracked 8 per cent post subdued Q3 results. Vedant Fashions, Praj Industries, Sudarshan Chemicals, Bank of Baroda and SAMHI Hotels dropped 4-5 per cent during the day.
The market breadth mostly favoured the bulls, with 2,525 stocks moving higher. On the other hand, 1,126 were trading in red and 151 stocks were unchanged as of the time of writing this report. 180 stocks hit their upper circuit, with 187 stocks recorded at the lower circuit limit for the day.