The day after Budget…Sensex zooms 600 points

We saw the Indian markets reverse sharply on the Budget Day after notching strong gains initially. That performance led to some skepticism about the Finance Minister's Budget proposals, especially on fiscal deficit, spending and subsidies. But, the bulls had other ideas and even the bears had to fall in line once the rally gathered pace today.



In the process, the BSE Sensex shot up by over 600 points for the first time since October 2010. With today’s stellar rally, the Sensex has reclaimed the 18,000 levels while the NSE Nifty regained the 5,550 level.

Bulls put up a powerful show today with all the indices on the BSE clocking robust gains. The Mid-Cap stocks matched their Large-Cap peers in terms of percentage gains while the Small-Cap shares underperformed slightly.

In terms of sectors, Autos dominated with more than 5% gain, followed by Banking, Capital Goods, Metals and Realty.

"A marginally positive Budget, impressive monthly auto sales figures coupled with upbeat economic reports boosted the sentiment on Dalal-Street. The core sector growth stood at 7.1% in January versus 6.1% in December. Exports surged 34% in January while the trade gap shrank. The manufacturing PMI touched the highest level in three months," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex shot up 623 points to end at 18,447 and the NSE Nifty surged 189 points to close at 5,522.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the green, BSE Auto index was the top gainer, the index gained 5.6% followed by BSE Banking index up 4.4%, Realty index was up 4.4% and BSE Capital Goods index gained 4.3%.

Even the BSE Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap index rose 3.2% and 2.5% respectively.

The European markets were trading mixed, the FTSE index was down 0.8%, CAC index was flat and DAX index also was flat.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were Glenmark Pharma, Ashok Ley, TVS Motor, Havell India and Bharat Forge. On the other hand, losers included Adani Power, EIH, Nalco and Exide Ind.