Business News Highlights: Stock Markets Settle Higher, Sensex Crosses 72,000, Nifty Falls Short Of 21,900
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Interim Budget 2024 on Thursday. The stock markets exhibited volatility and closer slightly lower in the day. However, on Friday, the markets seem to have welcomed the government’s policy revisions introduced in the Budget.
As of 10:02 AM, the two key equity benchmarks were trading higher and seemed to be on a strong rally. The BSE Sensex climbed over 750 points and was trading at 72,403.68, while the NSE Nifty50 stood higher by more than 200 points at 21,934.75.
Comparatively, in the previous trading day, on Thursday, Sensex and Nifty closed their lacklustre trade in the red following the Interim Budget announcement. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit a high of 72,151, eventually ended the day at 71,645, down 107 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 topped 21,800 in intra-day deals, but closed at 21,697, down 28 points.
While the FM proposed no changes to the tax slabs in the Budget, there were few policy revisions announced. Among the major announcements included a capital outlay of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore for the Indian railways. The govt also hiked the gross budgetary allocation for railway infrastructure projects in the northeast for the FY25 to Rs 10,369 crore, which remained 388 per cent higher than the average budget allocation of Rs 2,122 crore during the 2009-14 period, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.
For the EV sector, while the FM did say that the govt will enhance widespread adoption of E-buses for public transport, the govt also slashed the FAME allocation for FY25 by over 44 per cent to Rs 2,671.33 crore, against the revised Budget Estimates for FY24.
Sitharaman also announced that the government will disburse Rs 75,000 crore as interest-free loan for 50 years to support reforms by states for realising the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
Regarding the agriculture sector, the government said that it will be building on its Atmanirbhar Oilseeds Abhiyaan launched in 2022 and setting up a comprehensive program to help the dairy farmers.
Women's Welfare Budget Increased By 38.6% In FY25: WCD Ministry
The budget allocation for women's welfare in the financial year 2024-25 has seen a substantial increase of 38.6 per cent. This boost is attributed to enhanced allocations by seven ministries and departments, according to the Women and Child Development Ministry.
"43 Ministries/Departments/UTs have reported a total of Rs. 3.09 lakh crore in the Gender Budget Statement 2024-25 (Budget Estimates), as compared to Rs. 2.23 lakh crore in 2023-24," the ministry statement states.
Bank Of India Q3: Net Profit Soars 62% To Rs 1,870 Crore
State-owned Bank of India (BoI) reported a 62 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,870 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal year in the financial results released on Friday. Comparatively, the bank logged a profit of Rs 1,151 crore in the October-December quarter in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The total income of the lender rose to Rs 16,411 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 14,160 crore in Q3FY23.
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