The stock market on Budget day has seen sharp moves in both directions, and the two extremes under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman came a year apart. On 1 February 2021, the The NSE's main stock index, which tracks 50 large, actively traded companies and weights each by the market value of its publicly tradable shares. Read the full meaning of Nifty 50 gained 4.74%, or 646.60 points, to close at 14,281.20, its largest Budget day gain under her. A year earlier, on 1 February 2020, the Nifty 50 had fallen 2.50%, while the Sensex fell by about 2.4% on same day.
The record here covers only those Budget days that have been checked against published reports.
What the Nifty did on recent Budget days
The table below shows how Nifty 50 closed on each Budget day from 2019 to 2026, with the February 2024 figure being for the interim Budget.
| Budget day | Nifty 50 move |
|---|---|
| 1 February 2025 | Down 0.11% |
| 1 February 2024 (interim) | Down 0.13% |
| 1 February 2023 | Down 0.26% |
| 1 February 2022 | Up 1.40% |
| 1 February 2021 | Up 4.70% |
| 1 February 2020 | Down 2.50% |
Most of the moves in the table were small, and the Nifty 50 closed lower on five of the seven days.
Why one Budget day is not a pattern
Business Standard data shows that Nifty 50 closed down on five of the seven Budget days up to early 2025 under Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. On a one‑month view after the Budget, the index was negative on four of those seven occasions.
The Sensex record is mixed in the same way. It ended on a positive note on seven of the 14 Budget presentation days from 2014 through early 2025, so the day itself has neither favoured one side nor the other.
The extremes lie at the other ends. The best Budget day for the Sensex between 2010 and 2019 saw a gain of 1.76%, while on 6 July 2009 the Sensex dropped by about 6%, the biggest Budget day fall in the recorded history.
On 1 February 2025, the Nifty 50 closed lower by 0.11%, and Amisha Vora, Chairperson and Managing Director, PL Capital, said, "I believe Union Budget 2025 has done its job well."
The market reaction on that day and what traders think of the Budget were not pointing in the same direction.
The next Budget is expected on 1 February 2027, and nothing is claimed here about how the market will react.
