Sensex, Nifty open lower after budget day; realty stocks fall, ITC gains

Benchmark stock market indices opened slightly lower a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 48.96 points at 80,380.08 at 9:24 am, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 15.90 points to trade at 24,463.15. All the other broader market indices also opened traded flat.

While most other sectoral indices gained, Nifty realty fell after Sitharaman proposed to remove the indexation benefit for some asset classes like gold and property.

Experts believe that there could be a short-term impact on realty stocks due to the move.

On the other hand, consumer-oreinted stocks are likely to rise as a result of the government’s announcement related to income tax. The new tax regime has been sweetened slightly, with marginal revision in the tax slabs and a hiked standard deduction.

The top five gainers on the Nifty50 were ITC, Titan, HDFCLife, Tata Motors and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, the top losers were Tata Consumer Products, HUL, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India and Britannia.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “Now that the steep increase in STCGs tax and the marginal increase in LTCGs tax on equity is a reality, investors should focus on investing in stocks which can deliver superior returns. In the present context FMCG stocks look attractive from the valuation perspective.”