Indian equities are trading cautiously ahead of the Union Budget 2024 amid expectations of tax sops and jobs creation measures.

Sensex, the 30-share pack of the Bombay Stock Exchange, climbed over 250 points as markets opened at 9:15 am, but wiped out the gains in early trading. Nifty, too, is trading in the red, in anticipation of the Budget announcements.

Sensex closed at 80,502.08 while the NSE benchmark ended at 23,537.85 yesterday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has reached the Parliament, will present the Budget 2024 at 11 am. Expectations of tax reliefs for the middle class and job creation measures are likely to give a positive nudge to the markets.

NTPC, ITC, and UltraTech cement are among the leading gainers among the BSE pack while the major losers include JSW Steel and HDFC Bank.

IT stocks like Wipro, HCLTech, and Tech Mahindra are also in the red.

The pre-budget Economic Survey, which was unveiled yesterday, noted that the IT sector hiring had slowed considerably in the last financial year; it is unlikely to pick up significantly.

“The market participants will be closely watching for any tweaks in LTCGs tax. If there are no changes in LTCG tax. that will be a big relief for the market and the market is likely to react positively to that,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Railway Budget 2024 Live: FM Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce that in this financial year the Vande Bharat sleeper train for long distance overnight travel and Vande Metro for short-distance travel will be rolled out.

The rumour industry had been working overtime ever since it was announced that former opener Gautam Gambhir will be the head coach for India. His firebrand altercations with batting talisman Virat Kohli in the IPL (2013 KKR vs RCB) and 2023 (LSG vs RCB) were probably the reasons for that.