No cheer in stock mkts amid flat capex growth

DOMESTIC equity market witnessed significant volatility on Budget day, with benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opening the special trading session on a positive note before experiencing a sharp decline between 11:45 AM and 11:55 AM.

- Arshad Khan @ New Delhi

The Sensex plunged nearly 900 points from its peak but rebounded into positive territory by around 1:40 PM. By the close of the session, the Sensex ended marginally higher by 5.39 points (0.01%) at 77,506 while the Nifty slipped 26.25 points (0.11%) to settle at 23,482.

During the trading session, Sensex hit an intraday high of 77,899 and a low of 77,006 and the Nifty50 gyrated between 23,632 and 23,339. The sharp fall during the budget hour is primarily attributed to a low increase in capital expenditure (capex), which according to experts, might weigh on economic growth. For 2025-26, the capex has been increased by a modest 10% to ₹11.2 lakh crore.