Sensex stays cautious as Arun Jaitley presents Budget 2017 in Parliament

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex was trading flat with a positive bias on Wednesday as Arun Jaitley presents Budget 2017, after Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker of the House, said that the House may go ahead in exceptional situation, but will not sit tomorrow as mark of respect to late Union minster, E Ahamed.

The rise in the index was led by gains in ITC, HDFC, SBI, L&T, Tata Motors, and Maruti.

The Nifty50 was trading above its crucial support level of 8,550. The rise in the index was led by gains in realty, oil & gas, consumer durables, and capital goods stocks.

Highlighting the various challenges faced by India from the uncertain global environment, Arun Jaitley promises focus on infrastructure, rural areas, poverty alleviation as well as energising youth.

The sluggish growth has been replaced with high growth, but the finance minister expects the global economy to recover after a poor 2016. IMF estimates world GDP will grow by 3.4 per cent in 2017.