Sensex tanks 190 points, Nifty below 12K ahead of Budget

Investors were up for a volatile trading session on Friday as expectations from the Union Budget 2020-21, and December quarter earnings kept investors jittery. That apart, concerns over the outbreak of Coronavirus, too, weighed on investor sentiment.

Markets closed at their lowest level in 2020 ahead of the Budget presentation tomorrow. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended the day near day’s low, at 40,723 level, down 190 points or 0.47 per cent, while the Nifty50 breached below the crucial 12,000-mark and settled at 11,962 level, down 74 points or 0.61 per cent.

During the day, the Sensex and Nifty fell 483 and 158 points, respectively from the day’s high.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed at 15,463.46 level, down 0.6 per cent, while the S&P BSE small-cap index was at 14,671.53, down 0.22 per cent.

Most domestic and foreign brokerages are looking forward to credible steps to prop-up growth and provide some relief to the individual income-tax payers when the government tables the Union Budget on Feb 1.

In the Economy Survey tabled today in the Parliament, the government said it expects a pick-up in economic activity in the second half of the fiscal on the back of improved foreign direct investment flows, a build-up of demand pressure, positive outlook for rural consumption, and rebound of industrial activity.

State Bank of India posted a 41 per cent year-on-year growth in the standalone net profit at Rs 5,583 crore – its highest ever quarterly net profit– for the December quarter of FY20. While the bank’s asset quality improved, its slippages rose a staggering 265 per cent YoY on account of exposure worth Rs 7,000 crore, to a large Housing Finance, the bank said. The stock surged over 3% post the results, but closed 2.5 per cent higher at Rs 318 per share.

That apart, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever reported a 11.9% YoY rise in a net profit at Rs 1,616 crore for the quarter ended December 2019. Volume growth for the quarter came in at 5 per cent, the company said in a regulatory filing. The stock closed 1.18 per cent lower today.

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