Stocks jive to Pranabda's music

The mood among investors was jittery ahead of the Budget with stock prices badly bruised by the ongoing correction and investors further worried that the Finance Minister might roll-back some of the stimulus used to fight the slowdown.

11 a.m .: A buoyant opening in other Asian bourses however helped Sensex trade around 100 points higher when the Finance Minister began his speech. Stock prices strengthened further once GDP growth for the next fiscal was reiterated between 8.75 and 9.25 per cent and various measures to improve agricultural output were announced. Allowing foreign individuals to invest in mutual funds and increasing the ceiling for FII investment in corporate bonds of infrastructure companies also helped to keep stock prices strong in the initial part of the Budget announcement.

12-10 p.m, : Sentiment however sagged as the Finance Minister continued to dole out populist measures. As the session progressed, this led to the worry that taxes might have to be hiked to meet these increased outlays in social spending. Stock prices nosedived and Sensex was up just 18 points at this point.

12-30 p.m. : Stock prices perked up again as the reduced fiscal deficit target was announced and customs and excise duties were largely unchanged.

1-40 p.m. : The best in stock price movement was however reserved for the afternoon. Sensex zoomed almost 600 points after the speech in a relief rally. This surge was largely led by traders' short-covering. It is therefore not surprising that the rally could not sustain and Sensex finished on a more sedate note, up 122 points.

Investors did not however, show any partiality to specific sectors. Top gainers in A group were ITC, TVS Motors, Procter and Gamble and Central Bank while the loser's list was led by Glenmark Pharma, BGR Energy and Sesa Goa.