After the presentation of the Interim Budget on Thursday, the markets saw a reduction in morning gains. The BSE Sensex stood at 71,826.36 points, up by 74.25 points, compared to the earlier increase of 273.72 points.
Maruti experienced a gain of over 3%, and Powergrid increased by more than 2%. However, Ultratech Cement and L&T witnessed a decline of more than 1%. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted that while both the Federal Reserve's decision and the Budget would impact the market, the primary focus would be on the Budget.
Although the Interim Budget is expected to be a vote on account with no sensational announcements, the Prime Minister's statement referring to it as a 'blueprint of intent' has raised expectations of significant indications for the full Budget and beyond. Investors will keep a close eye on the Budget developments.
The 1.61% sell-off in the S&P 500 on Thursday was attributed to disappointment over the absence of a rate cut in March. However, the positive remarks by the Fed chief regarding the well-performing economy, with a projected GDP growth of 3.1% in 2023, low unemployment at 3.7%, and a decline in consumer price inflation to 2.6%, are seen as favorable for the market going forward.
Vijayakumar advised long-term investors to focus on high-quality stocks with strong growth prospects, despite the short-term market movements driven by sectoral and stock-specific reactions to budget proposals.
(With Agency Inputs)
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