Markets continue losses in second session after Budget – Sensex loses 310 points, Nifty sheds 94
On Friday, the day after Budget 2018 was presented in Parliament, Indian markets faced the biggest intra-day slump in more than a year.
In the second trading session since the Union Budget was announced last week, both benchmark share indices lost heavily on Monday. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell below the 35,000 mark and the Nifty 50 hit its lowest in a month.
The poor performance continued from Friday as investor sentiment has been subdued over the government’s proposed 10% tax on long-term capital gains on equity gains above Rs 1 lakh.
On Monday, Sensex ended 309.59 points lower at 34,757.16, and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50 fell 94.05 points to 10,666.55. Both indices lost around 0.9%.
On Friday, the day after the Budget, the Sensex had lost nearly 840 points, and the Nifty 50 had its biggest intra-day slump in more than a year.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Power Grid Corporation of India, ITC and Sun Pharma. The stocks that declined the most were HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto.
On the Nifty 50, the top five stocks were Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Bosch, Hindustan Petroleum and Coal India. HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports and Indiabulls Housing were the top five losers on the index.
The rupee fell to 64.12 against the US dollar, from 64.06 at previous close. Other Asian markets also dropped over 1% after losses on Wall Street last week, Reuters reported.