Ahead of the Union Budget 2021, the stock market has been very volatile. The India VIX index was up nearly 4% to 23.25 on Monday. Benchmark equity indices plunged with BSE's Sensex falling over 500 points dragged by losses in IT and FMCG stocks.
NSE's Nifty settled 133 points or 0.93% lower at 14,239.
Among major losers for the day was Reliance Industries. The stock traded 4.96% lower at Rs 1,948.00 apiece on BSE, having slumped as much as 5.34% to Rs 1,940.15 earlier on Monday after the conglomerate posted a sharp drop in quarterly revenue from its dominant oil-to-chemicals business.

Markets expected to remain volatile
Markets may remain volatile in this holiday-shortened week amid monthly derivatives expiry, quarterly earnings and the upcoming Union Budget, analysts said.
"Going ahead, markets may continue to remain highly volatile ahead of monthly expiry and Union Budget 2021. The ongoing earnings season which kicked off on a strong note would further add to the volatility. The Fed monetary policy is also due this week," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, as quoted in a PTI report.
"If the recovery in growth and corporate earnings, currently underway in India, gathers momentum, the markets may further surprise on the upside. But it is important to appreciate that the market is overvalued from the short- term perspective. At high levels, the market is vulnerable to a correction," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services had said.
HDFC Securities' pre-budget picks
As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget on 1 February, HDFC Securities has shared its five pre-Budget picks.
1. Bharat Electronics Ltd
Buy at LTP (last trading price) and add on dips in the Rs 122-124 band with a target price of Rs 148, the brokerage said.
Time horizon for the bet: 2 quarters
2. Escorts Ltd
Buy at LTP and add on dips in the Rs 1,180-1,190 band with a target price of Rs 1,457.
Time horizon for the bet: 2 quarters
3. HCG
Buy at LTP and add on dips to Rs 145-147 band with a target price of Rs 180.
Time horizon for the bet: 2 quarters
4. Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd
Buy at LTP and add on dips in the Rs 208-210 band with a target price of Rs 250.
Time horizon for the bet: 2 quarters
5. JK Cement Ltd
Buy at LTP and add on dips in the Rs 1,940-1,975 band with a target price of Rs 2,400.
Disclaimer
The article is purely informational and is not a solicitation to buy, sell in securities mentioned in the article. Greynium Information Technologies Pvt Ltd, its subsidiaries, associates and the author do not accept culpability for losses and/or damages arising based on information in this article.
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