Budget will determine the course of stock market

K. ARAVIND

The week gone by saw the stock market fall sharply. All the gains made by the market this year have been drained over the past week. This was due to heavy selling pressure.

Foreign investment firms, which had previously been driving the market upwards, started selling, which led to a decline. The Nifty fell more than 1,100 points from its highest level ever. More than five per cent of the corrections were made.

Reliance Industries, which had the highest weightage in the Nifty and Sensex, released its third-quarter results last week, but the stock declined on the back of a slump in the market. Reliance also failed to help the market.

The Nifty, which was at 13,700 closed below 13,700 after breaking the support. Resistance can be expected at 14,000 if it rises above.

The market is looking at the budget presentation by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. If there are market-friendly announcements in the budget, there is every possibility of a rebound.