Sensex falls 395 points, Nifty below 11,900 as Budget 2019 fails to cheer markets 

The BSE Sensex fell 394.67 points to 39,513.39 and the Nifty50 declined 135.60 points to 11,811.20 after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed increasing the minimum public shareholding in listed companies to 35% from 25%, threatening a wave of new issuance.

Benchmark indices fell sharply for first time in last five straight sessions after Budget failed to boost sentiment.

Sitharaman unveiled the proposal while presenting the budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020 to parliament. She said the government has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India to consider the proposal, but did not give many other details.

The government also trimmed its fiscal deficit target to 3.3% from 3.4% for this year in the budget and said some of the borrowing would be made in offshore markets.

Corporate taxes were cut to 25% for some firms, but the government also said it raise import tariffs on items such as gold and impose an additional excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The broader NSE Nifty fell 0.82% to 11,849.85 points by 0925 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.67% lower at 39,646.57.

Six of the 11 sector indexes compiled by the NSE were in the red while 15 of the 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE were trading lower.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was the biggest drag on the index, falling as much as 4.6% in afternoon trade. The country's IT index was down 2.3%.

(With inputs from Reuters)