Interim budget disappoints mkts as they end lower

16 Feb 2009 | 18:09
Interim budget disappoints mkts as they end lower

Interim budget disappoints mkts as they end lower The markets reacted negatively to the UPA's interim budget today. The main indices had started on a weak note, but fell further after the statement from Pranab Mukherjee, the stand-in Prime Minister and Finance Minister of India. He said the government has relaxed fiscal responsibility & budget management targets. There may be need to consider additional fiscal measures in the next regular budget. Analysts say that the interim budget was more of a dampener as it has neither given any positive surprise for the market nor any negative measure for the sectors. The stocks have ended on a weak note post budget announcement as analysts feel that the interim budget failed to meet the expectations of the markets.

While the Sensex closed 329.29pts or 3.42% lower at 9,305.45, the Nifty lost 99.85pts or 3.39% to close at 2848.5. The broad market indices too ended lower as the BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices were down by 2.93% and 2.1% respectively. Market breadth was negative as A/D ratio was 0.49:1 on the BSE.

All the sectoral indices ended lower. The top losers were the BSE Metals, Realty, Bankex and Capital goods indices. The top gainer from the BSE-30 was ITC. The top losers were JP Associates, Rel Infra, ICICI Bank, RCom and Tata Steel.

The interim budget seems to have spoiled the mood in the markets. The uptrend that began in the last week of Jan 09 nevertheless remains up. This would reverse with a close under 9015/2750. We recommend a go slow approach on fresh longs till we see signs of strength.