The key equity indices traded in a volatile manner in mid-morning trade as the Budget for 2023-24 is being currently presented in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister. The Nifty traded below the 17,800 mark. Bank stocks advanced for third consecutive sessions.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 436.74 points or 0.73% to 59,986.64. The Nifty 50 index added 114.60 points or 0.65% to 17,776.75.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.94% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.06%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2289 shares rose and 1011 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.
Union Budget 2023-24:
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved Union Budget 2023-24.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is currently presenting Budget 2023 in the Parliament. This is the final full-fledged budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general election next year.
Sitharaman in her Budget speech today said that India's FY23 GDP growth is estimated at 7%.
The seven priorities of the Union Budget are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infra & investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
FM said that an Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs.
Continuing our commitment to food security, we're implementing from 1 January 2023, a scheme to supply free food grain to all Antyodaya and priority households for one year under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, FM said.
She added that the government will launch the Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Programme to improve availability of disease-free quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops at an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Bank index rose 1.03% to 41,073.85. The index has added 1.81% in three sessions.
ICICI Bank (up 3.11%), HDFC Bank (up 1.63%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.53%), Axis Bank (up 1.13%) and AU Small Finance Bank (up 1.11%) were the top gainers.
Among the other gainers were IndusInd Bank (up 0.71%), State Bank of India (up 0.65%), IDFC First Bank (up 0.6%), Bandhan Bank (up 0.57%).
On the other hand, Bank of Baroda (down 0.92%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.84%) and Federal Bank (down 0.07%) turned lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Escorts Kubota rose 0.38%. The company's Agri Machinery Segment sold 6,649 tractors in January 2023, registering a growth of 16.5% as compared with 5,707 tractors sold in January 2022.
Bajaj Auto added 0.34%. The two-wheeler maker's total sales declined 21% to 2,85,995 units in January 2023 compared with 3,63,443 units sold in January 2022.
APAR Industries jumped 14.47%, rising for the second straight session after strong Q3 results. It had hit an upper circuit limit of 20% to settle at Rs 1,689.45 on Tuesday, 31 January 2023.
The company during trading hours on Tuesday announced that its consolidated net profit surged 210% to Rs 170 crore and revenue jumped 77% to Rs 3,942 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. EBIDTA stood at Rs 349 crore, up 174% YoY.
