Markets Continue The Bad Streak On Budget Day; Sensex & Nifty Close In Red

The Union budget was presented on July 23 by the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. This was Sitharaman's seventh straight budget. The markets had a lukewarm response to the budget. The Indian indices ended the intraday proceedings in negative territory.

The benchmark indices ended in red, with the BSE Sensex losing 0.091 per cent or 73.04 points, closing at 80,429.04. The NSE Nifty also had a red day, with the index losing 0.12 per cent or 30.20 points of its value, closing at 24,479.05.

In addition, the Nifty Bank index also closed in the red. dropping in value by 0.96 per cent or 502.10 points, closing at 51,778.30.

Gainers and Losers

The budget day saw some big gains for a few brands. Tata's Titan was the biggest gainer, with a massive 6.63 per cent. Another famous gainer was ITC, which saw over a 5 per cent jump in its value. Adani Ports also gained.

Among the laggards, L&T, Bajaj Finance, SBI and Axis Bank lost in the intraday trade.

The Red Trend Continues

It is interesting to note that the markets have continued with red streak on budget days. This development at Dalal Street is in line with the trend of markets responding to budgets from newly sworn-in governments in a lukewarm guise.

In 2014, when PM Modi took power for the first time, the BSE Sensex closed with a 72.06 points or 0.28 per cent decline. Nifty closed with a 17.25 points or 0.23 per cent drop in value.

In 2019, a similar trend was observed as the Sensex dropped by 394.67 points or 0.99 per cent. Nifty also closed in red, as the index dropped by 135.60 points or 1.14 per cent.

As for the budget, many important announcements were made. For the equity markets, according to observers, the budget curtails active investor participation. This is being claimed as the tax levied on short-term capital gains will go up from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

In addition, taxes on all long-term financial and non-financial assets will also rise from the current 10 per cent to the new 12.5 per cent.