Mumbai (PTI): Stock markets are expected to rally at the start of this week on expectations of a number of populist measures in the Union Budget but sustaining the gains may be difficult and would depend on the global trends, said analysts.

"Bulls are pinning hope on the Union Budget and there have been no euphoric movement in the past two weeks, it is expected that the market would rally if there is any surprise element in the budget," Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the Union Budget 2009-10 in Parliament tomorrow.

"Investors are hopeful that the government would present a budget that will ensure a buoyant capital market so that the PSU stake disinvestment reaps them good returns. Even if everything is neutral, the market would trade with a positive bias," Unicon Financial Chief Executive G Nagpal said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained over 148 points during the past week to end at 14,913.05, while Nifty of the National Stock Exchange settled at 4,424.25.

Marketmen, however, feel that sustaining the positive momentum would be difficult as the global markets are trading in the negative zone.

"There would be some rally on the budget day after the speech from the Finance Minister, but after a day or two they would start tracking global cues, which are mostly in the negative," Bothra said.