This budget is considered to be crucial for the government with the Loksabha elections scheduled in 2019. The major task for the government is to keep the general sentiment positive, while the nation goes to the polls.

In a bid to give further impetus to Digital India, in the Union Budget 2018 government has increased its focus towards digitisation of education system and increase Digital intensity in the country.

The Indian stock markets were in top spirit on Thursday morning ahead of the Union Budget announced by Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. The markets were trading higher despite fears of LTCG making a comeback.

Government started with the objective to improve the farm income by 2x by 2022. In the very direction government is planning to provide 1.5x of the cost of produce as the minimum support price. This was earlier applicable for Rabi crops and has been extended to all crops.

Being a mutual fund investor, it is necessary and advisable to be aware of the all charges and costs involved with the mutual fund investment. The various costs involved in mutual fund investment 

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 50.96 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 4,73,999.37 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 50.96 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 4,73,999.37 crore.

Going forward, immediate support for the index is placed in the region of 10,970-10,990, followed by 10,900. On the upside, the level of 11,172 would be crucial to watch, as a move above this level would lead to an extension of the current leg of the upmove. Top stocks to watch out: Godrej Properties, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Copper, Fortis Healthcare, Time Technoplast, Wipro, Phillips Carbon Black, Nocil and SBI. 

Indian equity benchmarks are expected to make a muted start on Thursday, and until the Union Budget proposals start rolling in, we expect range-bound movement and lots of volatility would be seen with the progress of the session. The big question is whether the FM would maintain the reformist fervour or he would prefer to add a tinge of populism to the budget. The Lok Sabha election in 2019 and the some crucial state elections coming up this year could see the budget tilting more towards populism.