Sensex Zooms 793 Points after Sitharaman’s ‘Mini-Budget’

Mumbai: Indian markets took it in their stride the trade-related tensions troubling overseas markets and advanced sharply on Monday on the back of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s measures announced last week to combat slowdown and improve foreign investor confidence.

Both the Sensex and Nifty surged over 2 per cent as investors rejoiced over what many analysts are dubbing as Sitharaman’s “mini-budget”. The single biggest push came via the roll-back of the much criticized tax surcharge on Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).

The BSE Sensex jumped 792.96 points, or 2.16 per cent, to close on Monday at 37,494.12, while the Nifty gained 228.50 points, or 2.11 per cent, to 11,057.85.

The financial sector and public sectors banks (PSBs) led the charge on Monday. The Nifty Financial Service index closed 4 per cent higher, followed by the Nifty PSB index that was up 3.58 per cent. The Nifty Realty index surged by 3.74 per cent.

“The initial set of actions, though small, has enhanced market sentiment and confidence,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

The market will trade in a positive bias awaiting further development regarding additional government measures and US-China trade talk, he added.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank, up 6.33 per cent, followed by HDFC, up 5.24 per cent, Bajaj Finance was up 4.66 per cent, HDFC Bank rose 4.29 per cent, while ICICI Bank went up 4.09 per cent.

Sitharaman on Friday announced the roll back of the surcharge levied on capital gains on shares for both foreign and domestic investors, provided an upfront Rs 70,000-crore equity infusion into PSBs to boost lending, and measures to push automobile sales.

She also indicated more such measures would be soon announced which would focus on the real estate sector. (IANS)

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