Stock Market Highlights

Equity benchmark indices ended the Interim Budget Day trading session with modest losses amid lacklustre moves post the Budget FY25 porposals announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, wherein she stuck to the fiscal consolidation path.

The S&P BSE Sensex hit a high of 72,151, and thereafter drifted into red to a low of 71,574. The Sensex eventually ended the day with a loss of 107 points at 71,645.

The NSE Nifty 50 had topped the 21,800-level in intra-day deals, but finished 28 points lower at 21,697.

Maruti up over 4 per cent, was the top gainer among the Sensex 30 stocks. Power Grid Corporation, Axis Bank, SBI and NTPC were the other major gainers. 

On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro and UltraTech Cement dropped over 2 per cent each. JSW Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Bharti Airtel and Asian Paints were the other notable losers.

Broader indices also settled in red. The BSE MidCap index was down 0.4 per cent, while the SmallCap shed 0.2 per cent.

Shares of PSU Banks outperformed on Thursday, with PSB up 6 per cent. IOB, Indian, Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and PNB were the other major gainers, up over 4 per cent. Also read: Key levels to track on PSU Banks

Meanwhile, shares of railway related companies witnessed profit-taking post Budget. RVNL, IRFC, IRCTC, RailTel, RITES, Jupiter Wagons declined 2-5 per cent.

Among individual shares, Paytm tanked 20  per cent after the Reserve Bank of India halted nearly all transactions of its digital payment unit Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL).