Stock markets bounce back in early trade after sharp decline on Budget day

New Delhi: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Monday driven by value-buying in blue-chip firms, after facing massive drubbing on the Budget day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 302 points to 81,024.94 during initial trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 59.25 points to 24,884.70.

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From the Sensex firms, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Reliance Industries, Power Grid and HDFC Bank were among the major gainers.

Trent, Titan, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced measures to boost manufacturing, offered long-term tax incentives for global data centres, and support for agriculture and tourism as she unveiled a Rs 53.5 lakh crore Union Budget for 2026-27, seen as a long-term blueprint for sustaining growth amid rising global risks.

Shunning populist measures despite five key states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, heading to polls, the Budget signalled continued fiscal consolidation and infrastructure spending.

But a hike in securities transaction tax on equity derivatives rattled equity markets, with key indices plunging as much as 2 percent in the special Budget-day trading session, before recovering some ground.

On Sunday, the BSE benchmark ended at 80,722.94, down 1,546.84 points or 1.88 percent. The Nifty tanked 495.20 points or 1.96 percent to settle at 24,825.45.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 588.34 crore on Sunday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi tumbled over 4 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were also trading lower.

US markets ended lower on Friday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tanked 4.14 percent to USD 66.45 per barrel.

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