Sensex up 340 points on Budget proposal to cut corporate tax rate

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered over 340 points to trade in positive zone after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to reduce corporate tax rate in in Budget.

The BSE Sensex was up by 340.20 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 29,560.32 after touching a low of 29,201.88 in noon trade. The National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 86.05 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 8,930.65 after slipping to 8,834.65 earlier.

Budgetary proposal to reduce corporate tax rate to 25 per cent from 30 per cent bolstered the sentiments, brokers said. Major gainers that helped Sensex and Nifty to rebound were Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Ltd, BHEL, ITC Ltd, GAIL, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Infosys, L&T and SBI.