Budget 2019: Sensex gives up gains, falls over 150 pts
Mumbai: The BSE Sensex surrendered early gains to fall over 150 points Friday, dragged by losses in oil and gas, metal and power stocks, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her maiden Union Budget.
The 30-share index was trading 171.82 points, or 0.43 percent, lower at 39,736.24 at 1150 hours. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 55.70 or 0.47 percent, to 11,891.05.
The Sensex had reclaimed the 40,000 marks and the NSE Nifty inched closer to the 12,000 level in morning trade ahead of the Budget presentation.
Top losers in the Sensex pack included Yes Bank, ONGC, NTPC, Vedanta, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, M&M, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and TCS, falling up to 5 percent.
HUL, Asian Paints and Kotak Bank were the only gainers in the index, rising up to 0.81 percent.
Presenting the full Union Budget for 2019-20, Sitharaman said India needs to make structural reforms to achieve the target of USD 5 trillion economies in the next few years.
She said it was the right time to consider increasing the minimum public shareholding from 25 percent to 35 percent.
The Budget also proposed rationalization and streamlining of KYC norms for Foreign Portfolio Investors to make them investor-friendly.
Sitharaman said the government proposes to initiate steps for an electronic fundraising program for a listing of social enterprises and voluntary organizations.
Interoperability of RBI depositories and SEBI depositories is necessary for seamless transfer of treasury bills, she said, adding the government will take necessary measures for the same.
The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 24 paise to 68.74 against the US dollar.
