Benchmark indices opened on a flat note and continued to hover around the same mark after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on Thursday, 1 February.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose by 0.02 percent to 71,764 post-Budget after opening flat at 71,814.58, according to a report by PTI. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 index traded 50 points higher at 21,745 as of 12:12pm.
On Budget Day 2024, the Rupee opened at 83.02 and appreciated by nine paise to 82.95 against the US dollar, indicating that market participants are being cautious ahead of the Interim Budget 2024-25 being presented in Parliament.
In December 2023, Sitharaman had said that "no spectacular announcements" are expected in the "vote on account Budget." "The interim Budget that the government presents is just to be able to meet the expenditure of the government until a new government comes in," she had said.
Investor sentiments are being weighed down due to a muted domestic equities trend causing the rupee to be traded in a narrow range, forex traders reportedly told news agency PTI. Another factor is the strength of the US dollar in overseas markets, the report said.
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