New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday traded higher in opening deals upbeat on the Union Budget announced on Tuesday and led by gains in financial stocks.
As of 9:45 am, the BSE Sensex jumped 503 points to 59,365, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 149 points higher to 17,726.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also in the positive zone and were up 0.5 and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
Among the Sensex-30 components, Bajaj twins, PowerGrid, ITC, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers, up between 0.9 per cent and 2 per cent. On the Nifty, Eicher Motors, up around 2 per cent was the additonal gainer.
On the flip side, Tech Mahindra was the top loser on the bourses, down 3 per cent as the company’s Q3 results missed Street estimates. Britannia, Adani Ports, and UltraTech Cements were among the losers.
Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 24 scrips were trading in the green.
In the previous session, the BSE index finished 848.40 points higher at 58,862.57. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty surged 237 points to end at 17,576.85.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a bigger Rs 39.45-lakh crore budget, with higher spending on highways to affordable housing with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic.
“India unveiled on Tuesday a bigger budget of Rs 39.45 trillion rupees for the coming fiscal year, stepping up investment on highways and affordable housing to put growth on a firmer footing as the economy recovers from the pandemic,” quoting Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities, PTI said.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Several Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong and South Korea, are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Stock exchanges in the US ended higher in the overnight session.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.19 per cent to $89.33 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the domestic capital market, pulling out Rs 21.79 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data.
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