[ad_1]

The wild upswings or downswings typically associated with Sensex and Nifty on Budget day were amiss on Thursday with headline indices trading flat as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman left little for stock market investors to chew on during her 60-minute speech. There were neither any shocks nor pleasant surprises in the interim Budget, with no myopic measures being announced.

The government did not bow down to the populist measures in the election year and kept the tax regime unchanged but ensured fiscal prudence. The fiscal deficit is set at 5.1%, significantly lower than expected.

“The hallmark of this interim Budget is its fiscal rectitude. The fact that the government has prioritised fiscal consolidation over populism on the eve of the general election is commendable. The fiscal deficit numbers of 5.8% in the revised estimates for FY24 and 5.1% for FY25 are better than the most optimistic expectations. This is very good news for the economy and consequently for the market,” said Dr V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

5 key takeaways from Budget for stock market investors:

1) Capex boost

Nirmala Sitharaman has increased the outlay for capital expenditure by 11.1% to Rs 11.11 lakh crore, which would be 3.4% of GDP. This will help boost economic activity and serve the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat.“The increased investment is poised to stimulate private capital expenditure, which still hasn’t picked up the pace as expected. This surge in investment will not only drive economic growth but also create increased employment opportunities, aiding rural India for higher consumption too,” said Sanjay Moorjani, research analyst at SAMCO Securities.

2) EV push

Sparking a rally in EV stocks, the Budget expanded and strengthened the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure. Greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through the payment security mechanism.”This will also increase opportunities for a large number of small vendors for manufacturing, installation and maintenance of EV charging networks,” said Maulik Manakiwala, partner, Indirect Tax, BDO India.

Stocks of Olectra Greentech, JBM Auto and Cotton Greaves were in focus.

3) Focus on rail

After the success of Vande Bharat trains, the FM announced that around 40,000 more rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat coaches.

“Stocks such as Jupiter Wagons, Titagarh Rail Systems, Siemens, RVNL would benefit from the manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains. This will further create job opportunities while reducing travel time as well as increasing tourism across the country,” said Sanjay Moorjani, research analyst at SAMCO Securities.

Railway stocks saw a decline, possibly due to concerns over the execution and immediate impact of the infrastructure projects announced.

4) Lakhpati Didi Dream

The Budget has proposed to enhance the target for Lakhpati Didi scheme from 2 crore to 3 crore. With the financial injection of Rs 1 lakh per household for the 1 crore beneficiaries, this initiative is poised to significantly uplift the economic status of rural women.

“This empowerment not only stimulates the rural economy but also enhances credit demand for micro-financiers, particularly from women and self-help groups, potentially reducing stress on asset quality issues. Credit Access Grameen, Fusion Micro Finance, Muthoot Microfinance are some of the stocks that could see a positive impact of this scheme in the medium term,” said Veer Trivedi of SAMCO Securities.

5) Solar ambition

Through rooftop solarization under Suryodaya Yojana, 1 crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units free electricity every month, which will help households to save monthly up to Rs 15,000–18,000. Solar power companies such as Insolation Energy, Surana Solar, Solex Energy, etc stand to benefit from the rooftop solarization scheme.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

(You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)

[ad_2]

Source link