Union Budget 2020: Stock Markets To Remain Open On Budget Day
Domestic stock markets will remain open for trading on Saturday, February 1, the day Finance Minister will present the Union Budget in Parliament. According to a circular by stock exchange BSE, trading will be conducted during normal opening hours - from 9 am to 3:30 pm - on February 1, 2020. The last such instance was in the year 2015, when then finance minister Arun Jaitley presented the Budget on a Saturday.
The stock markets in India are usually shut for trading on Saturdays and Sundays, as is the practice worldwide.
Since the last Union Budget, which was presented in July, the S&P BSE Sensex has risen 4.06 per cent and the Nifty 50 index advanced 2.32 per cent so far.
After the presentation of the Budget, the stock markets had reacted negatively to the imposition of super rich tax on foreign institutional investors. However, a rollback of the higher taxes on FIIs in August and a hefty cut in corporate tax rates the next month boosted investor confidence, according to analysts.
The stock markets have already started building in expectations ahead of Budget 2020.
The upcoming Union Budget is probably one of the most anticipated budgets in recent years as people look towards the Finance Minister to take measures to lift the economy from the double whammy of slowing growth and rising inflation.
The market participants will keep an eye on the government's budgetary announcements, expenditure and revenues, fiscal target and any other policy changes in the Finance Minister's speech in the Lok Sabha on February 1.