Indian stock benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher for a fourth consecutive day Economic

Indian stock benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher for a fourth consecutive day in a rangebound trading session on Thursday as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of Union Budget.

It is widely expected that the government will amend several policies and undertake various reforms for delivering domestic growth and rural consumption in Budget.

Meanwhile, the Economic Survey 2019, which was tabled in Parliament today failed to excite the market, as it predicted the economy to grow at a healthy 7 per cent in FY20, up from 6.8 per cent in the previous fiscal.

The survey expects the general fiscal deficit at 5.8 per cent in FY19, as against 6.4 per cent in FY18 and forecasts a rebound in investment cycle in FY20

The Survey also said structural reforms of the last few years are on course, and the huge political mandate for the incumbent government augurs well for growth prospects.

The market remained rangebound during the session while other Asian peers closed higher tracking sharp gains on Wall Street as recent data suggested slowing economic growth in the US, boosting the prospect of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

It is widely expected that the government will amend several policies and undertake various reforms for delivering domestic growth and rural consumption in Budget.

 Indian stock benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher for a fourth consecutive day in a rangebound trading session on Thursday as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of Union Budget.

It is widely expected that the government will amend several policies and undertake various reforms for delivering domestic growth and rural consumption in Budget.

Meanwhile, the Economic Survey 2019, which was tabled in Parliament today failed to excite the market, as it predicted the economy to grow at a healthy 7 per cent in FY20, up from 6.8 per cent in the previous fiscal.

The survey expects the general fiscal deficit at 5.8 per cent in FY19, as against 6.4 per cent in FY18 and forecasts a rebound in investment cycle in FY20.

The Survey also said structural reforms of the last few years are on course, and the huge political mandate for the incumbent government augurs well for growth prospects.

The market remained rangebound during the session while other Asian peers closed higher tracking sharp gains on Wall Street as recent data suggested slowing economic growth in the US, boosting the prospect of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

PSU Bank stocks remained in focus throughout the day and closed with gains on hopes that state run banks will receive a recapitalisation bonanza in the upcoming union budget.

BSE Sensex closed 68.81 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 39,908.06 while NSE Nifty ended at 11,938, up 21.25 points or 0.18 per cent.

Market at a glance

In the 30-pack Sensex, 19 stocks ended in the green and 11 in the red with YES Bank as the worst performer and Bharti Airtel best. Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Bank too joined Bharti Airtel on the gainers list, rising up to 2.53 per cent.

HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and Vedanta were among other Sensex stocks that declined.

The BSE Midcap index declined 0.19 per cent while the BSE Smallcap index ended 0.12 per cent higher.

BSE Telecom index recorded gains of 1.53 per cent followed by Realty index. While BSE Consumer Durables and Metal indices were among the worst performers.

In terms of index contribution, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel and ITC were the top support while HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank were the top drag on Sensex.