Market LIVE: Sensex, Nifty subdued as Economic Survey throws fiscal, economic challenge for government

Around 3.15 PM, S&P BSE Sensex was trading 0.51 per cent or 209 points lower at 40,703.84 while broader Nifty 50 index breached the crucial 12,000-mark and was ruling at 11,955 points

Market LIVE: Domestic equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty were trading subdued on Friday after the government presented the Economic Survey in the parliament. The Economic Survey 2020 estimated that India’s GDP will grow at 6-6.5 per cent in the financial year 2020-21 while simultaneously throwing a challenge to the government to choose between a tight fiscal deficit or high growth. Around 3.15 PM, S&P BSE Sensex was trading 0.51 per cent or 209 points lower at 40,703.84 while broader Nifty 50 index breached the crucial 12,000-mark and was ruling at 11,955 points. Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel were among the top gainers on the Sensex, while ONGC, Power Grid, TCS, and HCL Tech were the top losers. 

The government’s efforts to drive ‘Make in India’ to success have not yet reflected in the country’s industrial output growth. India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth is expected to fall to 2 per cent in the current financial year 2019-20, said FICCI in its Economic Outlook Survey. “The participating economists have put forth a median growth forecast for IIP at 2 per cent for the year 2019-20, with a minimum and maximum range of 0.4 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively,” the survey said. The new IIP estimate for this fiscal year is half of India’s industrial production growth at 4.4 per cent in the previous FY18.