Volatile Sensex logs Budget day gain

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 28

The Sensex ended 141 points higher at 29,361 while the Nifty closed 57 points at 8,902 at the end of a volatile trading session today.

Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and HUL were top gainers in the Sensex. On the other hand ITC, down 8%, was the biggest loser. BHEL, NTPC, Hindalco and Tata Power also ended in the negative territory.

According to the provisional data available from the stock exchanges today, foreign institutional investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,957 crore.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Bankex was the biggest gainer closing more than 3% higher. Others to close in the green included the healthcare, auto, IT and oil & gas indices. Losers included the BSE FMCG index, which was down more than 4%. Power, consumer, durables and realty indices also ended in the red by more than 3%.

Pharma stocks were also in the positive territory. Cipla gained more than 2%, Dr Reddy’s Lab gained 2.4% and Sun Pharma jumped 4% on news of the government allocating Rs 33,152 crore to the health sector. Earlier, Sensex fell into the negative territory after the Finance Minister sharply increased duties on cigarrettes by 25%. However, the markets rebounded after reduction in corporate tax to 25% from 30% over a period of four years was announced.