A traffic signal in the foreground of the Bombay Stock Exchange’s on Dalal Street seems to reflect the mood of the stock markets in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit: PAUL NORONHA

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading in the positive territory on Saturday amid the Union Budget presentation.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 350.03 points to 77,850.60 in the late morning trade. The NSE Nifty climbed 106.15 points to 23,614.55.

The government aims to initiate “transformative reforms” across six domains, including taxation and financial sector, in the Union Budget 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Presenting her eighth consecutive Budget, Ms. Sitharaman said the government’s development track record of the past 10 years and structural reforms have drawn global attention.

A Viksit Bharat will have zero poverty, quality education, high-quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare, she said, adding that the Budget’s focus is to take everyone together on inclusive growth path.

“…this Budget aims to initiate transformative reforms across six domains during the first five years. These will augment our growth potential and global competitiveness. The domains are taxation, power sector, urban development, mining, financial sector and regulatory reforms… agriculture as the first engine,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, and ITC Hotels were among the biggest gainers.

Titan, Nestle, Zomato, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.

The Finance Minister said the Union Budget 2025-26 continues efforts to accelerate growth and provide inclusive development.

Presenting the 14th consecutive Budget under the Narendra Modi government since 2014, Ms. Sitharaman said, “Together we embark on journey to unlock our potential for greater prosperity.” She asserted that the Indian economy is fastest-growing among all developing economies.

India’s economy is likely to expand by 6.3-6.8% in the coming fiscal, much lower than what is needed to become a developed country, and requires deregulation and reforms in areas like land and labour to stimulate growth, according to the government’s pre-Budget Economic Survey.

The state of the economy document, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday (January 31, 2025), indicated that India’s world-beating growth is moderating and more needs to be done to achieve the near 8% annual rate needed to achieve the Viksit Bharat target by 2047.

Asian markets are closed on Saturday due to holidays.

U.S. markets ended lower on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹1,188.99 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.29% to $75.67 a barrel.

Rallying for the fourth day running on Friday, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 740.76 points or 0.97% higher at 77,500.57. The Nifty rallied 258.90 points or 1.11% to 23,508.40.