The Indian markets recovered in the afternoon trading session on Friday after the Finance Ministry clarified its stand on the tax residency certificate which had caused confusion over FIIs following the FM's Budget speech on Thursday.

The Finance Ministry said on Friday it will not question the validity of tax residency certificates (TRCs) held by foreign investors, while noting the current double-tax treaty with Mauritius remains in effect, pending continued talks.

The BSE Sensex ended up 56.98 points or 0.30% to 18,918, and the NSE Nifty finished up 26.65 points or 0.47% to 5,719.70.

Almost all sectoral indices were trading in the green on the BSE except realty, FMCG, TECk and oil and gas, which were the only sectors trading in the red led by realty sector which was hit the most and fell 4 per cent. These stocks were hit owing to weak sentiment and fears that demand for premium housing may be hit after the latest budget introduced a 10 per cent surcharge on taxpayers with annual income of more than Rs 10 million.

On the NSE, Maruti, JP Associates, Reliance Infra, BPCL, and PowerGrid were the top gainers while DLF, IDFC, Airtel, Siemens and Cairn were the top losers.

Market-men said that the Union Budget was pragmatically crafted keeping in view the resources and constraints at hand.

"Given the fact that elections are just round the corner and the grim macro-economic scenario, the Finance Minister has resisted the temptation to announce a populist Budget. The good part is that the government finances have not gone out of control and all the necessary steps have been taken in terms of fiscal responsibility. Overall a practical Budget,” said R. Venkataraman, MD, IIFL.

In Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.58 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.41 per cent today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended just 0.15 per cent lower in yesterday’s trade.

Related Topics