Top News

Budget 2026: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget 2026 today, February 1st. While the stock market is usually closed on Saturdays and Sundays, this time, due to the budget presentation, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain open on Sunday. ​​The commodity market, i.e., the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), will also be open for a special trading session.
This is not the first time the stock market will be open on a holiday; there have been several instances in the past when the budget was presented on February 1st, and trading took place despite it being a holiday.

Nirmala Sitharaman to present the budget at 11 AM.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha at 11 AM on February 1st. The National Stock Exchange, in its circular, stated that due to the presentation of the Union Budget, members are requested to note that the exchange will conduct a live trading session on February 1, 2026, as per standard market timings (9:15 AM to 3:30 PM). Since it is a settlement holiday, shares purchased on January 30th cannot be sold on February 1st. Similarly, shares purchased on the budget day cannot be sold the next day.

Nirmala Sitharaman to present the Union Budget for the 9th time
Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for the 9th consecutive time. This is one of the longest continuous tenures for any finance minister. This will also be the second full budget after the NDA government came to power for the third time in 2024.

According to a recent report, investors will be focusing on the government's debt, fiscal deficit, and borrowing plan for the next year. Analysts believe that borrowing could increase by approximately 3 percent year-on-year. This could keep the fiscal deficit in FY 2026-27 at around 4.1 to 4.2 percent of GDP. The Economic Survey was presented on January 29.
All budget-related documents are prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs. These documents contain complete details of the government's expenditure, revenue, and new schemes for the upcoming financial year. Before this, the Economic Survey 2025-26 was presented in Parliament on January 29.  Following this, Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran and other senior officials briefed the press about it.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from News18 Hindi. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.