High volatility marks Dalal Street on Budget day; ITC cracks 7%

NEW DELHI: High volatility marked Dalal Street on Budget day, with the benchmark Sensex surging over 250 points in early trade, flip-flopping between red and green zones and then cracking over 300 points.

Top loser on the 30-stock Sensex index was ITC. The stock cracked over 7% in intraday trade after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced hiking duty on cigarettes to 25%.

Axis Bank was the top gainer with about 6% gains on the Sensex.

At 1:33 pm, the Sensex was at 28,942.12; down 278.00 points. The broader Nifty was at 8,767.00; down 77.60 points.

The Sensex once again surprised market experts who had said that the trading on Budget day would be rangebound.