Stock markets remain lukewarm ahead of Budget 2024

The Indian stock markets remained range bound at opening on Thursday ahead of the announcement of Budget 2024 by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. However, expectations are not that high given that this is an interim Budget.

The Nifty 50, which closed at 21,708.10 on January 31, opened marginally higher at opening on Thursday at 21,780, but then continued to trend lower. At 10:30 am, it was trading at 21,780 levels.

Given that the Union Budget will be interim in nature, the only expectation is whether any announcements will push the Nifty past the 22,000 mark. The only expectation is that the Union Budget will come out with certain capital expenditure, which could have a positive impact on the infrastructure sector.

The Indian stock markets has been in volatile territory in the recent past with sharp upward and downward movements.

At the same time, there is an expectation from the market that the Union Budget will undertake certain fiscal consolidation measures and it will be keenly watching the growth projections that the government will be putting out.

The stock markets are likely to remain in uncertain territory for some more time as one is not sure how the interest rates are going to move in the near future. There was hope that the US Fed would bring down the interest rates this year but recent commentary suggests that this might be delayed.