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 Indian shares turned positive on Tuesday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman started presenting the union budget, with investors awaiting policy announcements that could have a huge bearing on the trajectory of markets.

The NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex were higher by about 0.2% as of 11:13 a.m. IST. They opened about 0.3% higher but dropped 0.2% ahead of the budget.

Volatility rose to a six-week-high of 15.79, during the session.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first post-election budget will focus on employment and the middle class, Sitharaman said.

She also listed productivity in the agriculture sector, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security and infrastructure as budgetary priorities.

"Volatility will remain elevated today as budget announcements will decide the direction of markets in intraday trade," said ICICI Securities analysts led by Dharmesh Shah.

The Nifty has hit multiple all-time highs through its roughly 13% rally this year, despite a near 6% slide on June 4 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party returned to power but by unexpectedly having to rely on allies. Still, the index has risen in each of the seven weeks since.

The budget is expected to focus on job creation and boosting consumption, which analysts expect will be positive for sectors such as consumer goods, real estate and autos.

But, analysts said investors are also cautious of negative surprises, especially related to taxes on capital gains or derivatives trading.

"If there are no changes in long-term capital gains tax that will be a big relief for the market and the market is likely to react positively to that," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

On the day, seven of the 13 major sectors logged losses.