Sensex Down Over 100 Points; Rail Stocks Surge on Budget Announcements

The BSE benchmark Sensex continued to trade with a negative bias in the noon deals amid Railway Budget speech by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

 

The 50-share Nifty was trading below its important psychological level of 8,750 led by selling in heavyweights like ITC, SBI, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever.

 

Among a lot of measures being announced, the Railway Minister said that pension funds and multi lateral banks have evinced interest of investments in Raialways. He also announced that priority would be given to improve capacity on high density network in next five years. 

 

Analysts said the event is in focus as investors will watch out as to how the NDA government goes ahead on the path of economic reforms to boost growth.

 

Indian Railways which is considered as the lifeline of Indian economy needs to undergo a makeover so that it can contribute to country's growth.

 

On the Dalal Street, most of the Nifty stocks were facing the heat of selling pressure as 34 were declining while 16 were advancing. BHEL was the top Nifty loser, down 2.1 per cent to Rs 268. Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Bank of Baroda, Coal India, ITC, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries and HUL were also among the leading laggards.

 

Selling was visible across the sectors. Healthcare, FMCG, auto, banking and capital goods were the prominent losers.

 

The broader markets were also witnessing the selling pressure as the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were quoting in red.

 

At 12:35 PM, the Sensex was down 105 points at 28,903 and the Nifty declined 28 points to 8,739 levels.