India Economy
BRIC powerhouse sits at the edge of investment grade

The immediate response of the Indian rupee and stocks to the budget speech was positive helped by the better than expected fiscal targets but lack of major reforms weighed the markets down later bringing the currency as well as the equity indices back in the red.

At 7:00 GMT, the BSE Sensex was at 25312, down 0.52%. The Nifty 50 index was at 7,549.20, down 0.47%.

The USD/INR was at 59.82 from the previous close of 59.75.

Bonds, however, kept their gains largely as the fiscal target numbers continued to support the market. The 10-year benchmark bond traded at a yield of 8.66% from the previous 8.73%.