Budget 2020: Sensex, Nifty turn cautious, markets in red

Market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty turned cautious in late-morning trade on Saturday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began presenting the Union Budget 2020-21 in Parliament.

In the afternoon session, Sensex at 40,080, down by 646 points in afternoon trade. Nifty slumps 204 points to 11,757 .

Sensex was trading over 150 points higher ahead of the Budget presentation.

Presenting the Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman said fundamentals of the economy were strong and inflation had been well contained, while banks cleaned up accumulated loans.

She said this Budget is aimed at boosting income and purchasing power of people.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Maruti, HUL, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Asian Paints and Bajaj Auto.

However, PowerGrid, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel and ONGC were trading in the red.

The forex market remained closed for the weekend.