MC BudEx snaps 6-day winning run but outperforms Nifty, Sensex

Even as names like Tata Steel, Adani Ports and Bank of Baroda suffered, falling up to 4 percent, gains in railway stocks kept losses in check.

Moneycontrol Budget Sensitive Index (MC BudEX) snapped a six-day winning run on January 17 but outperformed the benchmark Sensex and Nifty.

The index, heaving 30 constituents, measures what kind of expectations are being factored in by the stock markets in the run-up to the Union Budget, which is scheduled to be presented on February 1. It is an equal-weighted index.

Even as names like Tata Steel, Adani Ports, and Bank of Baroda suffered, falling up to 4 percent, gains in railway stocks kept losses in check. Rail Vikas Nigam zoomed 9 percent while Tithagarh Wagons added about 0.25 percent.

Also Read: BudEx, the MC Budget Sensitive Index, is back again to map the market moves

The index closed at 107.20 on January 17, down 0.82 percent. MC Since its base date of December 1, the index is up about 7 percent.

The equity benchmarks Nifty and Sensex plunged to their biggest single-day fall in 19 months as HDFC Bank's disappointing Q3 show triggered a fall in the banking pack, roiling the market on January 17 amid weak global cues. At close, the Sensex was down 1,628.01 points, or 2.23 percent, at 71,500.76, and the Nifty was down 460.30 points, or 2.09 percent, at 21,572, their worst day since June 16, 2022.

Though the Budget is likely to be a vote on account, there are reports that the government plans to announce an extension to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship federal housing scheme in next month's budget and an increase in available subsidies for low-cost housing loans, three sources said, ahead of elections this year.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present an interim budget on Feb.1, is likely to raise allocations for low-cost housing by more than 15 percent to Rs 1 lakh crore ($12 billion) for 2024-25 from Rs 79,000 crore in the 2023/24 budget, two of the government sources said.