The Interim Budget 2024 turned out to be a non-event for the equity market as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stayed away from dropping any big-bang announcements ahead of the general elections. Benchmark indices, the Nifty50 and the Sensex also passed on the budget as a 'non-event', closing with slight losses on February 1.
However, the finance minister did sprinkle some sector-specific measures which brought cheer to certain pockets within the market. Here are some stocks that gained from the Budget proposal.
Housing Finance stocks
Housing finance names had a gala today after the finance minister announced a mega affordable housing push in the Union Budget 2024. Aside from launching schemes to help the middle class own their houses, Sitharaman announced that another two crore houses will be built in the next five years under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen).
Stocks like HUDCO, Aavas Financiers, Home First Finance, LIC Housing, PNB Housing and Can Fin Homes gained 1-20 percent.
Divestment focused stocks
Stocks of companies targeted for divestment soared in trade after the government set a higher-than-expected FY25 divestment target at Rs 50,000 crore. The Street was expecting the divestment target for FY25 to come anywhere around Rs 30,000-40,000 crore. Buoyed by the target, shares of IDBI Bank, Container Corporation, Shipping Corp and BEML, which are the government's major targets for divestment surged 1-9 percent.
Renewable energy stocks
Shares of renewable energy companies jumped after Sitharaman announced measures to provide assistance to set up rooftop solar systems in one crore houses.
“Through rooftop solarisation, 1 crore households will be enabled to obtain 300 units of free electricity every month,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.
Also Read | 5 takeaways from the Interim Budget 2024 for investors
This initiative by the government struck a chord well with renewable energy companies, pushing shares of Waree Renewables and Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy 1-5 percent higher.
EV stocks
Holding on to the government's aim to reduce net carbon emissions by half by 2030, the finance minister announced further support to expand the EV ecosystem in the country. "We will expand the EV ecosystem by encouraging the adoption of electric mobility in the public transport sector," Sitharaman said in her budget speech.
This announcement sent shares of EV manufacturers like JBM Auto as well as EV component makers, including Servotech Power and Samvardhana Motherson up by 2-5 percent.
PSU Bank stocks
The government's decision to reduce its borrowing plan for FY25 to Rs 14.1 lakh crore as against Rs 15.1 lakh crore in FY24 triggered strong buying across PSU bank stocks. This is because a fall in the government's borrowing plan helps ease yields, which benefits PSU bank players as they invest heavy chunks of capital in treasury bonds.
On that account, most PSU bank stocks, including Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, South Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda and PNB moved 3-8 percent higher.
What the market liked and did not in Interim BudgetDisclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.