Day After Budget, Sensex Posts Biggest Fall in Nearly 15 months

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex plummeted 840 points on Friday -- its biggest single-day fall in two-and-a-half years -- while the NSE Nifty ended below the 10,800-mark as the post-Budget sell-off continued for the second straight day.

The Budget 2018-19 presented on Thursday imposed long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) of 10 percent on equities. Investors will also have to pay 10 percent tax on distributed income from equity-oriented mutual funds.

Market mood suffered another setback after Fitch Ratings on Friday said high debt burden of the government constrains India's rating upgrade.

The flagship Sensex crashed 839.91 points, or 2.34 percent to end the day at 35,066.75 as jittery investors sold off shares across all sectors. This is its biggest one-day fall in 15 months.

The broader NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,800-mark by tanking 256.30 points, or 2.33 percent, to 10,760.60 at the close. Intra-day, it hit a low of 10,736.10.

Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also projected a fiscal deficit of 3.5 percent of GDP for current fiscal against the earlier target of 3.2 percent, which also accelerated the pace of selling by participants.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 358.50 crore, while foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 1,099.780 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.