Budget cheer? Here's what drove 1,400-pt rally in Sensex, Nifty to new high

Reliance and IT stocks led the market rally as investors cheered the fact that Budget 2024 resisted the temptation of populist measures, and stuck to the fiscal prudence path.

Bulls took centre-stage on Dalal Street on Friday, a day after the Interim Budget 2024 was presented, as markets cheered the fact that the government stuck to its stance on fiscal prudence, and avoided the temptation to announce populist measures, given the general elections year.

The S&P BSE Sensex soared 1,444 points intraday to hit a high of 73,089 levels. The Nifty50, on the other hand, claimed new record high of 22,127 in intraday deals. TRACK LIVE UPDATES HERE

With the fiscal deficit in check, the government's market borrowing in FY25 is expected to be Rs 14.1 trillion compared to Rs 15.4 trillion in FY24. On the other hand, overall capex has increased, however some analysts, had expected higher outlays for road, defence and railways. READ MORE

That apart, strong cues from the overseas market and consistent buying support by domestic institutional investors aided the upbeat sentiment.

Here's what is driving the sentiment on Dalal Street:

PSU Banks take lead: Shares of PSU banks took the lead post the Interim Budget announcement as bond yields dipped sharply, taking note of lower market borrowing numbers. The yields on 10-year government securities fell 10 basis points intrday on February 1, before closing about 7 basis points down. Today, they dipped another 4 basis points to a low of 7.02 per cent.

The Nifty PSU Bank index ended with a gain of over 3 per cent Thursday even though benchmark indices finished with marginal losses.

On Friday, so far, the PSU Bank index was up another 3 per cent. PSB zoomed over 14 per cent. Bank of India 7 per cent. PNB, IOB, Indian Bank, Union Bank and Central Bank up 4-5 per cent each.

No change in Tax regime: The government proposed to leave tax rates unchanged for the financial year 2024-25, both corporate and personal. As a result, frontline stocks were seen buying demand. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, so far this week, has rallied over 9 per cent. Today, the stock has gained 2 per cent, and contributed for nearly one-fifth of the gain on the BSE Sensex.

IT shares back in focus: The US economy has been showing signs of recovery, with employment data, select economic indicators turning favourable month-on-month. Off late, tech-based companies have reported strong performance in the recently concluded December quarter, thus raising hopes for business growth for export-oriented IT sector back in India. 

Infosys has rallied over 3 per cent so far today. Others like, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Wipro too were up 3 per cent each. 

Infra-related shares in buoyant mood: With the FM once again emphasising government's thrust towards building infrastructure in India, shares of these companies logged smart gains. 

The Nifty Infrastructure index jumped over 2 per cent. Among stocks, Power Grid and Adani Ports zoomed over 5 per cent each. Siemens, NTPC and UltraTech Cements were the other major large cap winners, while NBCC India and HUDCO zoomed up 18 per cent in the broader market.

OMCs cheer tepid oil trend: Earlier this week, Brent Crude oil futures rose above $83-mark amid fears of escalation in the Red Sea conflict. However, the commodity has dipped back to below $80 per barrel on Thursday. Shares of oil marketing companies like BPCL, IOC and Hindustan Petroleum rallied up 8 per cent.