Budget 2018: Indian stock markets are about to open as Finance Minister readies to present the last full-year Budget and final before the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. Investors all across are keenly awaiting for the Union Budget 2018 as it is the first budget after the nation-wide constitutional reform GST (Goods and Services Tax) implemented in July 2017. Earlier yesterday, Indian stock markets ended marginally lower ahead of the Union Budget 2018 with Sensex and Nifty finishing in negative territory for the second consecutive day. The Indian rupee ended higher by 2 paise at 63.58 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US stock markets concluded slightly higher on Wednesday as indices gave up early gains after the US Federal Reserve said it sees inflation rising this year, signalling it remains on track to boost interest rates again in March, Reuters said in a report. The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged but, in a statement following its two-day policy meeting, it repeated that it expected that “further gradual” rate hikes will be warranted, Reuters added. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.74 points or 0.28% to 26,150.63, the S&P 500 gained 1.47 points or 0.05% to 2,823.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.00 points or 0.12% to 7,411.48.
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8:16 am: The early indicator of NSE Nifty, SGX Nifty Futures was trading little changed, up 0.17% at 11,078 on the Singapore Stock Exchange on Thursday ahead of Budget 2018.
Sensex on Wednesday: BSE Sensex slipped below the 36,000-mark losing 68.71 points or 0.19% to conclude at 35,965.02 whereas NSE Nifty managed to close above the psychological mark of 11,000 at 11,027.7, down by 21.95 points or 0.2% after hitting an intraday low of 10,979.3.
