The bulls won the Budget week, as the main equity indices surged more than 2% for the week ending February 4. On weekly basis, ie. the last five trading sessions, the 30-share BSE Sensex has risen 1,445 points to 58,644.82. Similarly, the NSE Nifty index of 50 stocks rose 414 points weekly to 17,516.
After two weeks of selling, the domestic equity market began the week on a bullish note, with market players preferring to buy beaten-down firms. Meanwhile, Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, released a budget that attempts to maintain growth in the face of prolonged disruption from Covid-19 and growing prices. Sitharaman proposed a budget of Rs 39.45 lakh crore, including increased spending on highways and affordable housing in order to rev up the economy's core engines.
The stock market in the United States was under pressure following the release of disappointing earnings figures by Meta (Facebook). The European market was particularly weak after the Bank of England announced two rate hikes in a row during its policy meeting yesterday, while the most dovish European Central Bank acknowledged the risk of increasing inflation and signalled a rate hike in the near future.
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