The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes extended gains as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman started presenting Budget 2021 led by gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank. The Sensex rose as much as 552 points and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 13,750. In Friday’s trading session, the benchmarks fell for sixth session in a row as traders and investors lightened their positions ahead of the Budget 2021, analysts said. Markets are likely to remain volatile during the session as they would react to the announcements made by the Finance Minister. Buying was visible across sectors as eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by nearly 2 per cent gains in Nifty Private Bank and Bank indexes. On the flipside, IT, FMCG and pharma shares were witnessing a mild selling pressure. Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.2 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 100 index 0.23 per cent.
