Sensex surges over 500 points ahead of Budget, Nifty above 17,500

Equity benchmarks notched up solid gains on Tuesday ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2022-23. The 30-share Sensex was trading 603.39 points or 1.04 per cent higher at 58,617.56, and the broader Nifty rose 159.25 points or 0.92 per cent to 17,499.10. It touched a high of 17,586 at 10:15 am.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.45 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finserv. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 28 scrips were trading in the green. ITC and PowerGrid were the laggards.

UNION BUDGET 2022-23 FULL COVERAGE

ICICI Bank was the top Nifty gainer as the scrip surged 2.64 per cent to Rs 809.60. Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HDFC and Britannia were also among the gainers. While the Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 0.91 per cent, the small-cap shares were trading 1.09 per cent higher.

In the previous session, the 30-share BSE index finished 813.94 points or 1.42 per cent higher at 58,014.17. Tech Mahindra topped the Sensex gainers' chart, climbing 4.88 per cent, followed by Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, SBI, PowerGrid and Reliance Industries. Only three counters closed in the red -- IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and HUL, shedding up to 3.51 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 237.90 points or 1.39 per cent to end at 17,339.85.

On Monday, the Economic Survey said India's economy is expected to grow by 8-8.5 per cent in the fiscal beginning April 1 and is well placed to meet the future challenges on the back of widespread vaccine coverage, supply-side reforms and easing of regulations.

Meanwhile, the Indian economy contracted by 6.6 per cent in 2020-21 as against the earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent contraction, showing that the coronavirus pandemic-hit economy did not perform as badly as was initially thought.

According to the official data released on Monday, production of eight infrastructure sectors expanded by 3.8 per cent in December 2021 against a 0.4 per cent contraction in the same month last year on a better show by coal, cement and refinery products.

"The Indian government's fiscal position remains comfortable, with data for the first nine months of the financial year showing that only half the budgeted deficit had been exhausted. For April-December FY22, the fiscal deficit stood at 50.4 per cent compared to 145.5 per cent last year. Stronger tax and non-tax receipts have helped the government stabilise its budget," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said.

On Tuesday, Asian stocks harnessed the tailwind from a technology-led rally in the US that was spurred by dip buyers betting this year's equity rout is going to ebb. Several Asian markets, including China and South Korea, are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday, he added. Stock exchanges in the US ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.31 per cent to USD 91.21 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the domestic capital market, pulling out Rs 3,624.48 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.