Sensex crashes 840 pts on Budget woes, Nifty below 10,800

Benchmark Sensex plummeted 840 points today—its biggest single-day fall in two-and-a-half years -- while the NSE Nifty ended below the 10,800-mark as the post-Budget sell-off continued for the second straight day.

The Budget 2018-19 presented yesterday imposed long-term capital gains tax of 10 per cent on equities. Investors will also have to pay 10 per cent tax on distributed income from equity-oriented mutual funds.

Market mood suffered another setback after Fitch Ratings today said high debt burden of the government constrains India’s rating upgrade. The flagship Sensex crashed 839.91 points, or 2.34 per cent to end the day at 35,066.75 as jittery investors sold off shares across all sectors.

This is its biggest single session fall since August 24, 2015, when it had lost 1,624.51 points.

The broader NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,800-mark by tanking 256.30 points, or 2.33 per cent, to 10,760.60 at close. Intra-day, it hit a low of 10,736.10.

Presenting the Budget yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also projected a fiscal deficit of 3.5 per cent of GDP for current fiscal against the earlier target of 3.2 per cent, which also accelerated pace of selling by participants.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 358.50 crore, while foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 1,099.780 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.