The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a gap-down start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,365 level, a discount of nearly 190 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Nifty 50 also faced the wrath of bears with a decline of 243 points to fall below 23,250 levels. Both the benchmarks have tumbled by more than 1% each. The performance comes after the Union Budget announcement where deep tax changes were announced by FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

Indian markets opened flat ahead of the Union Budget 2025, with Sensex and Nifty struggling for direction while mid- and small-cap stocks outshone