Budget 2020 Fails To Cheer Markets; Sensex, Nifty Drop Most Since November 2016

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 0.56 percent to 11,920 as of 6:58 a.m.

The BSE Ltd. and the National Stock Exchange Ltd. will remain open today as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament. The markets, otherwise, are closed on Saturday.

Here are the five things to watch out for in Union Budget speech today. Catch all other Budget stories here.

• The S&P 500 Index erased its 2020 gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points as traders remained on edge over the impact of the disease that’s now infected about 10,000 people around the world.
• Oil is off to the worst start to a year since 1991, tumbling 16 percent in January on concern that the spread of coronavirus will curb demand for transportation fuels.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament. The markets, otherwise, are closed on Saturday.

Sitharaman is set to outline fiscal steps that may include higher spending in rural areas and possible tax cuts when she delivers her second budget speech. The government is expected to widen its fiscal deficit target for the year through March to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product from a planned 3.3 percent.

Read to get up to speed:

• A decade of Indian budgets: The hits and misses.
• India favours relaxing Budget gap target to boost growth.
• India is headed for its biggest tax shortfall in a decade.
• India FY21 GDP growth pegged at 6-6.5 percent.
• India’s economic slump: Should policymakers go above and beyond?
• Giving NREGA workers their due.

Here are the five things to watch out for in Union Budget speech today. Catch all other Budget stories here.

Catch all the live updates on Union Budget 2020 here.

Earnings Reaction To Watch

ITC (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue rose 5.1 percent to Rs 12,012 crore. (Estimate: Rs 12,079 crore)
• Net profit rose 29.1 percent to Rs 4,141.9 crore. (Estimate: Rs 3,876 crore)
• Ebitda rose 6.6 percent to Rs 4,611.6 crore. (Estimate: Rs 4683 crore)
• Margin stood at 38.4 percent versus 37.8 percent. (Estimate: 38.8 percent)

HUL (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue rose 2.6 percent to Rs 9,808 crore. (Estimate: Rs 10,034 crore)
• Net profit rose 11.9 percent to Rs 1,616 crore. (Estimate: Rs 1,596 crore)
• Ebitda rose 19.5 percent to Rs 2,445 crore. (Estimate: Rs 2,241 crore)
• Margin stood at 24.9 percent versus 21.4 percent. (Estimate: 22.3 percent)

Tech Mahindra (Q3, QoQ)

• $ Revenue rose 7.3 percent to $1353 million. (Estimate: $1330 million)
• Revenue rose 6.4 percent to Rs 9,655 crore. (Estimate: Rs 9477 crore)
• Net profit rose 2 percent to Rs 1,146 crore. (Estimate: Rs 1005 crore)
• EBIT rose 8.4 percent to Rs 1,179 crore. (Estimate: Rs 1183 crore)
• Margin stood at 12.2 percent versus 12 percent. (Estimate: 12.5 percent)

Vedanta (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue fell 9.8 percent to Rs 21360 crore. (Estimate: Rs 2,0223.2 crore)
• Net profit rose 49.2 percent to Rs 2348 crore. (Estimate: Rs 720.7 crore)
• Ebitda rose 15.4 percent to Rs 6514 crore. (Estimate: Rs 4,775.8 crore)
• Margin stood at 30.5 percent versus 23.8 percent. (Estimate: 23.6 percent)

Power Grid (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue rose 6 percent to Rs 8,992 crore. (Estimate Rs 9,064.2 crore)
• Net profit rose 14.6 percent to Rs 2,673.5 crore. (Estimate Rs 2,505.7 crore)
• Ebitda rose 3.9 percent to Rs 7876.2 crore. (Estimate Rs 8042.8 crore)
• Margin stood at 87.6 percent versus 89.4 percent. (Estimate 88.7 percent)

Castrol (Q4 CY 2019, YoY)

• Revenue fell 2.1 percent to Rs 1,011.8 crore.
• Net profit rose 28 percent to Rs 271.3 crore.
• Ebitda rose 7.5 percent to Rs 341.2 crore.
• Margin stood at 33.7 percent versus 30.7 percent.

AIA Engineering (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue fell 4.4 percent to Rs 694.1 crore.
• Net profit rose 21 percent to Rs 156.1 crore.
• Ebitda rose 4.7 percent to Rs 172.9 crore.
• Margin stood at 24.9 percent versus 22.7 percent.

Aditya Birla Capital (Q3, YoY)

• Net Interest Income rose 5.8 percent to Rs 633.3 crore.
• Net profit rose 17.2 percent to Rs 250.5 crore.
• NBFC loan book rose 30 percent to Rs 47,933 crore.
• Housing finance loan book rose 13 percent to Rs 12190 crore.
• Gross premium of life and health insurance rose 18 percent to Rs 2,366 crore.

Shoppers Stop (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue flat at Rs 1,019 crore.
• Net loss at Rs 6.5 crore versus Net Profit at Rs 41.7 crore.
• Ebitda rose 2.1 times to Rs 199.9 crore.
• Margin stood at 19.6 percent versus 9.3 percent.

Narayana Hrudayalaya (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue rose 7.3 percent to Rs 785.2 crore.
• Net profit rose 2.5 times to Rs 31.4 crore.
• Ebitda rose 31.8 percent to Rs 102.7 crore.
• Margin stood at 13.1 percent versus 10.6 percent.
• Tax as percent of PBT at 21.8 percent versus 50.5 percent.

Earnings To Watch

• Sobha
• Amara Raja Batteries
• Thyrocare Technologies
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
• Karur Vysya Bank
• Kopran
• Mahindra Holidays & Resorts
• Relaxo Footwears
• Sarda Energy & Minerals
• Seshasayee Paper and Boards
• Suprajit Engineering
• Andhra Petrochem
• Apollo Micro Systems
• Lumax Industries
• Suprajit Engineering
• Sobha
• Amara Raja Batteries
• Thyrocare Technologies
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
• Karur Vysya Bank
• Kopran
• Mahindra Holidays & Resorts
• Relaxo Footwears
• Sarda Energy & Minerals
• Seshasayee Paper and Boards
• Suprajit Engineering
• Andhra Petrochem
• Apollo Micro Systems
• Lumax Industries
• Suprajit Engineering

• Automakers are set to announce January sales data.
• Tech Mahindra will acquire 70 percent stake in Cerium Systems for Rs 245 crore. The company will acquire the remaining 30 percent stake over the next two years subject financial performance of the target company. The transaction will help bolster capabilities in the areas of semiconductor design and testing, embedded software development/testing and product engineering.
• Vedanta will acquire Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd. for Rs 280 crore. The target company is in the business of producing Ferroalloys and owns a Ferrochrome plant with capacity of 72,000 TPA, two operational chrome mines and 100 MW of Captive Power Plant through its subsidiary—Facor Power.
• Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ azacytidine received a positive generic recommendation from the European Medicines Agency's CHMP, according to a Bloomberg report. The drug treats leukaemia.
• SpiceJet: The Securities and Exchange Board of India disposed of an alleged insider trading case against former independent director of the company, KR Sasiprabhu, saying the charges could not be established against him, according to PTI report.
• NTPC: The petroleum ministry is considering a plan to end the supply of cheap, domestically produced natural gas to power plants and divert supplies to sectors, including transport and cooking fuel, according to Bloomberg report.
• IndusInd Bank: The Reserve Bank of India approved the appointment of Arun Tiwari as part-time Chairman of the Bank for a period of three years with effect from Jan. 31.
• Camlin Fine Sciences’ China joint venture’s manufacturing facility’s re-starting of operations has been deferred from Feb. 2 to Feb. 10. The China government has directed all industries operating in Zhejiang province to reopen from Feb. 9 to control pneumonia outbreak.
• Power Grid’s board approved investment approval for transmission system for renewable energy projects in Rajasthan for Rs 562.86 crore.
• Divis Labs’ Andhra Pradesh unit received zero Form 483 observations by U.S. FDA.
• Magma Fincorp: Board approved lending Rs 100 crore in company’s arm Magma Housing Finance to augment its lending business.
• Eveready Industries said that it has completed the sale of its land at Hyderabad for Rs 100 crore to Nuland Technologies.
• Shilpa Medicare received approval for cancer drug lenvatinib mesylate capsules in India. Company will commercialize the product under the brand name of Lenshil.
• NHPC: Board to consider raising capital via debt rose to Rs 1000 crore on Feb. 7.
• Cholamandalam Investment & Finance: Board approved the closure of QIP issue. The company approved the issue price at Rs 320 per share, which is at a discount of 2.3 percent to closing prices on Jan. 31, aggregating to Rs 900 crore. Key allottees include Government of Singapore, ICICI Pru MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF and Monetary Authority of Singapore.
• Coromandel International: Board approved deferment of the merger of its wholly-owned arm Dare Investments and Liberty Pesticides with self. The company has decided to end its joint venture with SQM and will acquire the entire stake (50 percent) of the outgoing partner SQM. The JV engaged in manufacturing of water-soluble fertilisers.
• Gati: Bay Capital decreased stake from 9.1 percent to 6.06 percent on the company.
• Bank of India is looking to raise Rs 1500-2000 crore capital by selling shares to institutions said Chief Executive Officer Atanu Das, according to a Bloomberg report.
• Weslpun Corp and Laptev Finance extend the long stop date for their business transferred agreement till March 31. Last year to the company had entered into an agreement to sell its Plates and Coil Mill Division to Laptev Finance for Rs 848.5 crore. Laptev Finance has already released 50 percent of the amount , i.e. Rs 424.25 crore of the advance to the company.
• Black Rose Industries completed the expansion of acrylamide capacity and commenced to the commercial production at the expanded plant. Company has installed the next phase of additional capacity for the manufacture of polyacrylamide liquids and commenced production at the facility.
• SMS Pharma’s API facility received zero observations after the EDQM inspection program.
• Sadhana Nitro Chem board approved a share split in 5:1 ratio.

Morgan Stanley on IPCA Labs

• Downgraded to ‘Equal-weight’ from ‘Overweight’; hiked price target to Rs 1,299 from Rs 1,108.
• Downgrade due to strong trailing performance and full valuations.
• Believe the stock is pricing in both earnings recovery and valuation re-rating.
• Expect 13-14 percent revenue growth, 150-200 basis points margin expansion and 20 percent net profit growth over FY21-22

On SBI

Emkay

• Maintained ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 380 from Rs 350.
• Historically highest net profit on better margins resolution of lumpy NPA.
• Bank expects better profitability in Q4 led by better asset-quality, SBI Cards IPO and lower tax.
• Key beneficiary of accelerating NPA resolutions.

HSBC

• Maintained ‘Buy’; cut price target to Rs 405 from Rs 414.
• December quarter’s profit before was tax in-line; asset quality has normalised.
• Contained residual stress and high provisioning cover provide comfort.
• Loan growth has moderated with stable operating trends.

Nomura

• Maintained ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 410 from Rs 400.
• December quarter was muted; getting to end of credit cycle; growth improvement key now.
• Asset quality – in line with our muted expectations.
• Core pre-provisioning operating profit performance impacted by weak margins.

On Tech Mahindra

UBS

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 825.
• Expect a positive reaction to stock on revenue beat and strong contract wins.
• Strong contract flows and revenue ramps set the stage for a strong FY21.
• Management remains confident of improving profitability in 2020-21.

HSBC

• Downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 830 from Rs 800.
• Q3 strong; two mega-deal wins led strong rally in stock which is tough to sustain.
• Impact of these deals on profitability will remain a challenge for earnings profile in near term.
• Valuations no longer undemanding; revenue acceleration priced in.

On ITC

Morgan Stanley

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 370
• Cigarette volume growth was at over 2 percent versus estimates of 2.5 percent.
• Earnings beat estimates due to higher other income and lower taxes.
• Performance in cigarettes business affected by persistent weakness in overall demand environment.

Edelweiss

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 315.
• Weak demand, high base and illegal cigarettes constrained cigarette volume growth to 2 percent on a yearly basis.
• FMCG margin expansion on track, but growth a miss.
• Re-rating demands more; expect price hike in cigarette and margin expansion in FMCG.

On Hindustan Unilever

UBS

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 2,150.
• Steady performance; price hikes ahead.
• Price increases ahead at 5-6 percent given 35 percent basket inflation.
• Risk reward still not attractive.

PhillipCapital

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 2,360.
• Volume growth to be quite healthy given.
• Rural growth was 0.5 times of urban growth, which is far lower than historical run-rate of 1.5-2 times.
• Expect Ebitda margin tailwinds to accelerate in 2020-21.

• Brookfield to acquire 29.45 percent stake in Indostar Capital at Rs 290 percent share (post conversion of compulsorily convertible preference shares)
• Brookfield to also make an open offer for 26 percent to public shareholders.
• Open offer price: Rs 290, a premium of 2.7 percent to Friday’s closing.
• Total deal size including open offer: Around Rs 2,300 crore.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaches the Ministry of Finance Office at North Block ahead of Budget 2020.

Indian indices are set to open lower ahead of Union Budget 2020.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.57 percent to 40,956 during the pre-market after falling over 1,700 points and the NSE Nifty 50 traded little changed at 11,958.

• Mercator to move into ASM Framework.
• GTN Industries , AXISCADES Engineering Technologies, Goa Carbon, Shyam Century Ferrous, Technofab Engineering, Vipul to move out of ASM Framework.
• Intrasoft Technologies, Sical Logistics to move into short term ASM Framework.
• Transglobe Foods price band revised to 20 percent.
• Kakatiya Cement Sugar & Industries price band revised to 5 percent.

Tata Motors to meet Ventura Securities on Feb. 4.

• KRBL promoters acquired 1.05 lakh shares on Jan. 31.
• Navin Fluorine promoter Maftlal Impex sold 2.5 lakh shares on Jan. 31.
• Ultratech Cement promoter Pilani Investment sold 1.43 lakh shares from Jan. 28-29.

Index Futures

• Nifty February futures closed at 11,994.3, premium of 32 points versus 24 points.
• Nifty February futures open interest up 12.5 percent, adds 12.6 lakh shares in open interest.
• Nifty Bank February futures closed at 30,937.3, premium of 103.7 points versus 121 points.
• Nifty Bank February futures open interest down 13 percent, sheds 1.5 lakh shares in open interest.

Options

• Nifty PCR at 1.04 versus 1.24 (across all series).

Nifty Weekly Expiry: Feb. 6

• Max open interest on call side at 13,000 (27.7 lakh shares).
• Max open interest on put side at 12,000 (15.1 lakh shares).
• open interest addition seen at 13,000C (+14 lakh shares), 12,100C (+9.6 lakh shares), 12,200C (+8.8 lakh shares).

Nifty Monthly Expiry: Feb. 27

• Max open interest on call side at 12,500 (18 lakh shares).
• Max open interest on put side at 12,000 (28.3 lakh shares).

Nifty’s 12,200 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract, which is set to expire on Feb. 6, fell 3.4 percent to Rs 63.40. About 4.79 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 25.44 lakh shares.

India has the world’s biggest workforce but not enough jobs to offer. And that, according to HDFC Ltd.’s Keki Mistry, is what Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should address in Union Budget 2020.

“Job creation is the single most important focus that the budget should have,” the chairman and chief executive officer at the non-bank lender said during BloombergQuint’s budget special series Ideas For Growth. “It’s very critical” and will improve sentiment, he said.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded higher, led by the NSE Nifty FMCG Index’s 1.14 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Media Index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.14 percent.

Shares of IRCTC extended gains for the seventh consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 10.1 percent to hit an all-time high at Rs 1,333.

Trading volume was almost six times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock returned 30 percent in the past five days and 39 percent in the past 30 days.

Maruti Suzuki (India) Ltd.'s total auto sales for January rose 1.6 percent year-on-year, according to a statement by the country's largest carmaker.

Here are the key highlights (YoY):

• Total units sold stood at 154,123 units in December 2019.
• Total export sales stood at 9,624 units.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki rose 2.1 percent intraday to Rs 7060 each after the announcement.

Indian indices were steady after they pared opening losses as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins Budget speech

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.34 percent to 40,867 and the NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.3 percent to 11,997. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index rose 0.41 percent.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rises to present Union Budget for 2020-21. She begins her speech saying the budget is aimed at boosting income and enhancing purchasing power. She said the budget aims to give aspiration and address the hopes of the citizens of the country.

Catch all the live updates on Union Budget 2020 here.

The NSE Nifty Realty Index rose 1.4 percent, led by the gains in Indiabulls Real Estate ltd. And Sobha Ltd.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lays out three prominent themes of this year’s budget:

• Aspirational India
• Caring Society
• Economic Development

Shares of Fertiliser companies gained after the government proposed 16 action points to aid farmers. Besides, the government said that it is committed to doubling farmers' income by 2022.

Shares of National Chemicals & Fertilizers rose as much as 4.9 percent to Rs 29.95, while shares of Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers and Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals rose as much as 5.1 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.

Shares of Shakti Pumps rose as much as 16.4 percent, the most since Jan. 10, 2020, to Rs 284.

The government plans to promote 20 lakh farmers to set up solar-powered pumps, Sitharaman said in her Budget speech. “The government will help 15 lakh farmers to solarise grid-connected farm. Farmers can convert barren land into solar farms,” she said.

Shares of the hospital operators rallied after the government plans to provide Rs 69,000 crore to the health sector in the next financial year.

Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise rose as much as 2.6 percent to Rs 1,703.45, while shares of Fortis Healthcare Ltd. and Narayana Hrudayalaya rose as much as 0.8 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

Indian indices were holding a tight range as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents Union Budget 2020-21.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 traded little changed at 40,766 and 11,974 respectively. The 30-stock index had swung from a fall of as much as 0.7 percent to gain as much as 0.5 percent earlier.

The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index rose 0.2 percent.

Shares of the pipe manufacturers gained after the government allocated Rs 3.6 lakh crore for piped water projects under the Jal Jeevan Scheme.

Shares of Finolex Industries rose as much as 4.4 percent to Rs 585, while shares of Prince Pipes & Fittings rose as much as 2.9 percent to Rs 181.

Shares of Sterlite Technologies rose as much as 3.3 percent to Rs 128.95 after the government sets aside Rs 60,000 crore to BharatNet.

“The fibre-to-home through BharatNet would link one lakh gram panchayats,” Sitharaman said while presenting Union Budget 2020-21.

Shares of Avanti Foods Ltd., Waterbase Ltd. and Apex Frozen Foods Ltd. gained after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2020 speech announced a plan to raise fish production to 200 lakh tonnes by March 2023.

“India has an estimated capacity of 162 million MT of Agri warehousing, cold storage, reefer van facilities, etc., The government will provide viability gap funding for setting up such efficient warehouses at the block/taluk level,” Sitharaman said while presenting Union Budget 2020.

Fertiliser stocks—including National Fertilizers Ltd., Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Ltd. and Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd.—traded at day's low after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2020 pushed for use of organic fertilisers.

Shares of IDBI bank rose as much as 18 percent, the most since Nov. 22, 2019, to Rs 39.90.

The government plans to divest the remaining stake in the lender via stock exchanges, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her Budget Speech.

Indian indices declined as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents Union Budget 2020-21.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.54 percent to 40,521 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.45 percent to 11,910. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 0.3 percent.

• FY20 revised estimate of expenses at Rs 26.99 lakh crore
• FY20 revised estimate of receipts at Rs 19.3 lakh crore
• FY21 nominal growth estimated at 10% FY21
• Receipts estimated at Rs 22.46 lakh crore FY21
• Expenditure seen at Rs 30.42 lakh crore
• Estimate fiscal deficit of 3.8% in FY20, 3.5% In FY21
• Invokes 0.5% deviation offered in FRBM Act for FY20 and FY21
• FY20 Net market borrowing seen at Rs 4.99 lakh crore
• FY21 Net market borrowing seen at Rs 5.36 lakh crore
• Budget said to peg asset sale target at Rs 2.1 lakh crore in FY21

Shares of the FMCG Companies—Nestle India Ltd., Hindustan Unilever ltd., and Godrej Consumer Products—gained after the government proposed lower income tax rates, in a move to boost consumer expenditure.

New Personal Income Tax Regime

• 10%: Rs 5 – 7.5 lakh (Versus earlier 20 percent)
• 15%: Rs 7.5 – 10 lakh (versus earlier 20 percent)
• 20%: Rs 10 – 12.5 lakh (versus earlier 30 percent)
• 25%: Rs 12.5 – 15 lakh (versus earlier 30 percent)
• 30%: Above Rs 15 lakh (continued at 30 percent, No excemptions)

Indian stocks decline to trade at day’s low.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.1 percent to 40,268 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 1.13 percent to 11,830. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 1.02 percent.

The government plans to increase the investment limit of foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in corporate bonds from 9 percent to 15 percent, Sitharaman said.

The finance minister said certain government securities will be open for foreign investors.

She also proposed debt-exchange traded funds comprising mainly government securities, while stating that Rs 22,000 crore has already provided as support to infrastructure project pipeline.

“To address liquidity constraints of NBFCs and housing finance corporations, a partial credit guarantee scheme will be launched by the government,” she added.

Indian indices recovered from day’s low.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell nearly 400 points or 0.95 percent to 40,336 after falling as much as 700 points earlier. The NSE Nifty 50 fell 1 percent to 11,831.

Shares of the cigarette makers declined after the budget proposed to raise excise duty on tobacco and cigarettes.

The non-banking finance companies do not seem to see any relief amid the sector which is challenged at the moment, Saurabh Mukherjea, founder at Marcellus Investment Managers said.

“The request to Reserve Bank of India to extend the MSME restructuring window was a little worrisome. This is basically saying the government does not have the money to recapitalise the state-owned banks and therefore is asking RBI to kick the can down the road,” Mukherjea told BloombergQuint in an interaction.

The markets were hoping for something which announces relief for either real estate or NBFCs—allowing them to start taking part in the growth cycle all over again, according to Ananth Narayan, professor at S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research.

“Lack of fiscal space for either growth or investment stimulus and the fact that the financial services sector, which is so critical to see the investment cycle come back again, seems to be still left out,” Narayan told BloombergQuint in an interaction.

Shares of the road makers declined in today’s trade.

“The government plans to accelerate the development of highways. This will include development of 2,500 km access control highways, 9,000 Km of economic corridors, 2,000 km of coastal and land port roads and 2000 km of strategic highways,” FM said in her Budget speech.

“Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and two other packages would be completed by 2023. Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway would also be started,” she added.

Indian stocks extended declines to trade at day’s low.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 2.4 percent points to trade below 40,000-mark and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 2.47 percent to trade below 11,700. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 2.5 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,293 stocks declined and 443 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Ten out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded lower, led by the NSE Nifty Realty Index’s 7 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty IT Index was the only sectoral gainer, up 0.7 percent.

Shares of the real estate developers declined, led by the fall in DLF Ltd., Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. and Godrej Properties Ltd.

Shares of ITC fell as much as 9 percent while shares of Godfrey Phillips fell as much as 9.3 percent to Rs 1,100.

The cigarette makers extended declines after the government in its Union Budget proposed to raise excise duty on tobacco and cigarettes.