New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: The benchmark Sensex opened on a positive note while Nifty plunged by nearly 100 points in early trade ahead of Budget announcment on Saturday.
At 9.12 am, BSE Sensex gained 29 points at 40,753 while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 96.8 points at 11,939.
In the opening session, Sensex shed its early gains to lose 279.01 pts at 40,444.48 while Nifty dipped 81.45 pts to 11,880.65 as as investors remained cautious ahead of the Union Budget by the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament later in the day.
Power grid (3 per cent ) and Tech Mahindra ( 2 per cent ) were the major laggards in the Sensex pack. Tata Steel, NTPC, Kotak Bank and HCL Tech were other losers. On the flipside, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Maruti and Asian Paints were trading with gains.
Also Read: Market LIVE updates | Sensex and Nifty run flat ahead of Budget 2020 presentation
In the Nifty pack, majority of the sectoral indices were trading in the red.
Analysts expect the government to increase state spending on infrastructure and offer some tax incentives in the Union Budget.
According to analysts, investors are cautious ahead of the Union Budget as all eyes will be on how centre is going to bring growth as any increase in spending would result in widening of fiscal deficit. Negative cues from global markets amid concerns over China's coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh on investor sentiment here, traders said as quoted by PTI.
On a net basis, domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 3,816.44 crore, while foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 4,179.12 crore on Friday, a provisional data showed.
In the previous session, Sensex had settled 190.33 points, or 0.47 per cent, lower at 40,723.49, after the Economic Survey suggested relaxing fiscal deficit target to boost growth from a decade low.
For complete coverage of Union Budget 2020 click here.
Posted By: James Kuanal