Mkts retreat from highs; Budget,rate-cut enthusiasm shortlived

The Benchmark indices - BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty - retreated from their record highs struck after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed key policy rates, as the initial excitement proved to be short-lived on the back of hectic profit-taking, though crawled back to end modestly higher during the holiday shortened week.
A steady steam of buying excitement following the growth-oriented Budget proposals helped the bourses to maintain its strong rallying momentum initially with investors' sentiment surpassing street expectations.
Robust foreign institutional investors appetite for Indian stocks alongwith positive economic momentum and expectations that the much awaited Insurance and Coal Mines bills will get the Lok Sabha nod also supported the general mood.

The unabated buying frenzy charged up further after the apex bank eased policy rates by 25 basis points to 7.5 per cent on Wednesday, its second inter-meeting cut this year on the back of easing inflation.
The move witnessed benchmark indices scaling new highs.
It was a memorable moment for the India markets as both the indices the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty conquered the 30,000 and 9,100 milestone respectively with massive wave of buying spree.

But the enthusiasm has proved short lived, as market took a complete U-turn from its historic high levels following a sudden gush of implied volatility, downplaying the significance of the surprise rate cut as investors' reaction to the rate cut was lacklusture.

With two major events - the Union Budget and the much awaited rate cut by the central bank out of the way, domestic investors preferred booking profits and stayed sidelines ahead of long weekend.
However, the right mix of policy measures adopted by the government in its budget mainly buoyed investors sentiment, helping the indices to close in positive zone.