Budget 2020: Nifty Logs Worst Budget-Day Performance In 11 Years

The NSE Nifty 50 Index clocked its worst Budget-day returns in at least 11 years after the Budget failed to impress investors.

The 50-share gauge fell 2.51 percent today, resulting in the erosion of nearly Rs 3.6 lakh crore in investor wealth. That was also the index’s worst Budget-day performance since July 6, 2009, when the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Budget after the UPA-2 government returned to power the same year.

The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, which are otherwise closed on a Saturday, were open to trading today as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament.

The markets usually recover a day after the budget—but that wasn’t the case during the previous budget. Investors were spooked when the government had then increased taxes on the super-rich, including foreign portfolio investors, and taxed share buybacks. The finance minister on Aug. 23, however, rolled back the enhanced surcharge on overseas investors.