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    Why market rallied post Budget? Social media trends tell a story

    Synopsis

    A study on social media by Blueocean Market Intelligence suggests the Budget was perceived as ‘pro-farmer’ and created a buzz in the election-bound states.

    ETMarkets.com
    NEW DELHI: While investors on Dalal Street were surprised by the way the market rallied after the Union Budget, some marketmen subscribed to the view that ‘no bad news was good news.’

    The Union Budget gave the BSE Sensex an 800-point lift in just four days.

    Possible introduction of long-term capital gains tax, a hike in the securities transaction tax (STT) and uncertainty regarding GAAR were some of the sore points with investors in the runup to the Budget. The Budget left them untouched.

    There were disappointments like lower provisions for capital infusion in the PSU banks, lack of big initiatives to boost private capex and absence of any out-of-box ideas.

    But a study on social media by a data analytics, market intelligence and digital firm, Blueocean Market Intelligence, suggests the Budget was perceived as ‘pro-farmer’ and created a social media buzz in the election-bound states.

    Image article boday


    Tax slabs and demonetisation were the top two trending terms on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and news websites after the Budget, taking the lion’s share of 22 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, among trending topics.

    Others such as rail budget, agriculture & farmer welfare and infrastructure accounted for 14 per cent, 13 per cent and 10 per cent shares, respectively.

    The Blueocean Market Intelligence study was based on data collected between January 26 and February 2.

    Delhi accounted for 32 % of overall online chatter while Maharashtra was 30 % and Karnataka made 7%. The three states taken together account for 69 % of the overall online chatter. The overall online chatter would amount to around 2.25 lakhs profiled conversations.

    Image article boday


    While 58 per cent post-Budget discussions appreciated the widening of the indirect and direct taxes base with data mining adaption in the GST implementations, it was largely blamed for not introducing enough sops to fight the effects of cash ban.

    The report noted that social media ‘applauded’ income-tax exemption for individuals earning up to Rs 3 lakh per annum and reduction in existing tax rate from 10 per cent to 5 per cent (the lowest tax bracket), thereby providing a benefit of up to Rs 12,500 to all taxpayers.

    Social media also gave a thumbs-up to the government’s new approach to use data mining to catch tax-evaders and focus on digital transactions to curb black money.

    That said, there was disappointment over lack of any major incentives in the wake of the cash ban, absence of any reference to universal basic income as well as other tax rebates.

    “Negative conversations were around lack of focus on direct job creation, tax on banking transactions and absence of any rebate on transaction charges to promote the digital economy,” it said.

    Here’s a list of topic that were buzzing on social media pre- and post-Budget.

    Image article boday


    Image article boday


    Social media users also took negatively Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian’s silence on demonetisation during the discussion of the Economic Survey.



    ( Originally published on Feb 09, 2017 )

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    (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2024 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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