Budget 2024: There Is Plenty For The Market To Cheer About, Says Saurabh Mukherjea

Though the stock market turned volatile on budget day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement had many positives, according to fund managers.

There is plenty for the market to cheer about, said Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment, while Prashant Khemka of White Oak Capital Management says it is business as usual.

"Plenty for the free-market lovers to cheer about; this government is saying the free market or private sector job is to drive capex, and I think that is the right attitude to take," Mukherjea told NDTV Profit. The positive movements in the 10-year bond yield and the Indian rupee during the budget are indications that the government is moving in the right direction, he said.

The yield on the 10-year benchmark bond fell 10 basis points to 7.04%, its lowest level since June 19, 2023. It was trading 8 basis points lower at 7.06% at 4 p.m. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The rupee strengthened 6 paise to close at Rs 82.98 against the U.S. dollar, according to Bloomberg data.

Khemka, on the other hand, said that he would not read too much in the market reaction as there is not much to "slice and dice". The reaction of bonds and rupees was not to only one event (the budget), as there were other events contributing to it, like the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to push the rate cut to March, he said.

"The economy is doing fairly well on its own. It may not be a bad thing for the RBI to keep the gun powder to itself. In a way, not providing cuts may reflect the RBI's confidence as well; based on the data they are seeing, the economy is expected to continue to shuffle on well," Khemka said. According to him, the government had not implemented any populist measures as the markets had anticipated.

Mukherjea focused on the importance of women-centric schemes. Women voters in the last election were more in comparison to men, and this would be the reason for the government in the future to bring more policies for women, he said.