BENGALURU, Feb 1 Reuters Indian shares gave up early gains to trade mostly flat on Thursday as the country39;s finance minister presented the interim budget without any major announcements, as expected, ahead of the country39;s general elections this year.

The NSE Nifty 50 index and the SP BSE Sensex were mostly unchanged as of 1226 p.m. IST. They were up about 0.3 ahead of the budget.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised economic reforms to drive growth in her budget speech, which was largely expected to avoid significant spending on new welfare programmes ahead of the election .

The country has set a target to narrow its fiscal deficit to 5.1 in the fiscal year 202425 and reduce its borrowings below economists39; estimate.

Sitharaman said India will borrow a gross 14.13 trillion rupees 170.36 bln in fiscal 2025, lower than the economists39; estimate of 15.6 trillion rupees.

The expectations were subdued due to the interim budget, Pankaj Murarka, chief investment officer at Renaissance Investment Managers said, adding that markets might consolidate in the next three months following Fed commentary, leading up to the elections.

The government39;s sustained focus on fiscal prudence is not only positive for economy, but also for the markets, Murarka said

The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signalled that rate cuts would not be appropriate until inflation cools further, which weighed on global equities.

Among the sectors, auto…