Disappointed markets mark their 4th biggest fall ever

The Indian equity markets, disappointed with the budget, marked their fourth worst performance ever and the worst on a budget day. The heavy sell-off also forced the BSE Sensex to close below the psychological 40,000-mark for the first time in the past three months.

Despite trading in green before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the revision in the tax slabs, the market crashed as soon as the more complex personal tax regime was announced. The BSE’s benchmark index BSE Sensex crashed by almost 1,100 points, but recovered partly to close at 39,735.53 points, down 987 points (2.43%).

For the latest on the Budget including reactions, follow our liveblog.

The overall market sentiment was heavily negative with 618 advances against 1,719 declines. In the mayhem that followed, Rs 3.62 lakh crore of investor wealth was wiped out from the markets.

Similarly, on broader index NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 318.30 points (2.66%) at 11,643.8. On BSE, all sectoral indices, save information technology, all indices on BSE closed in red.

“The new tax brackets will give more money to the hands of the individual but may compromise their long term savings as sections like 80c, 80d, 80ccd will not be available for deduction,” analyst said, reasoning dismal reaction of markets.