Union Budget fails to enthuse markets as it end in negative

 It was a see-saw ride for the markets on the Budget day as they oscillated between the negative and positive territories before finally ending the day in the negative zone. A bout of late profit booking and weak global indices meant that both the indices ended in the red despite a smart recovery midway through the trading day.

Nifty 50 hit an intra-day high of 7,094.60 after opening at 7,050.45 and hitting a low of 6825.80 before ending down 42.70 points (0.61 per cent) at 6,987.05. S&P BSE Sensex hit an intra-day high of 23343.22 after opening at 23238.50 and hitting a low of 22494.61 before ending down 152.30 points (0.66 per cent) at 23,002.

“Extreme volatility was witnessed on the bourses on account of announcement of Union Budget 2016-17. After an initial sharp decline, indices recover from day's low and traded in the positive zone for most part of trade. However, late profit booking and weak global equities forced indices to shed all the gains and shut the day lower," Hem Securities director Gaurav Jain said.

"It was a volatile day for the markets. The Budget was neutral and the global markets were not that supportive due to which markets ended in the negative zone," Angel Broking vice president and head of research Vaibhav Agrawal said.

ONGC was the top loser among Nifty 50 stocks ending down 10.76 per cent at Rs 192.80. Other major losers included Cairn (down 5.53 per cent to Rs 116.95), BHEL (down 4.89 per cent to Rs 90.45), Maruti (down 4.29 per cent to Rs 3263) and Larsen & Toubro (down 3.23 per cent to Rs 1074.80). Private and public sector banks were among the gainers after the government announced a lot of measures for the sector. ICICI Bank was the top gainer ending up 3.73 per cent at Rs 191.70.

Other major gainers included Kotak Mahindra BAnk, Indusind Bank and State Bank of India. Gainers apart from banking scrips included ITC, BPCL, Reliance Industries and Dr Reddy's.

According to HDFC Securities’ market wrap up, in the coming session if Nifty sustains above 6980 level then traders could expect positive move in the Nifty towards 7090 followed by 7145 level. If Nifty trades below 6980 level for first hour of trade then traders may see down move, which could take Nifty to 6925 level followed by 6870 level.