Will mkt open for a Saturday Budget? Stock exchanges are awaiting Sebi nod

Stock exchanges are awaiting a final nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on whether to keep the markets open on Budget day. This year, the Budget will be presented on February 1, which is a Saturday. 

In the last such instance in 2015, the stock markets were kept open for regular trading hours — which is from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. 

Typically, frantic trading is witnessed on Budget day as investors price in a slew of announcements made by the Finance Minister. 

People in the know said the bourses and Sebi are in talks as to whether the markets should be kept open for regular hours or whether there should be a truncated session.