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Key gauges end sharply lower as govt hikes STT on F&O trades in Budget
Feb-01-2026

Indian equity benchmarks closed sharply lower on Sunday, as market participants reacted to the Union Budget and booked profits across sectors. In her Budget address for 2026-27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures trading to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent, making derivative trades marginally costlier. She also announced that buyback proceeds will now be taxed as capital gains for all shareholders. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

India may achieve $2 trillion exports target by 2032: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the target of taking India's goods and services exports to $2 trillion is likely to be achieved around 2032, instead of the earlier goal of 2030, due to global uncertainties.

Govt reports 6.2% increase in GST collection for January: the government data has showed that gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased 6.2 per cent to over Rs 1.93 lakh crore in January 2026 as compared to Rs 1.82 lakh crore collected in January 2025, mainly on higher revenues from imports.

Bank credit to industry accelerates to 13.3% Y-o-Y: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that the pace of bank credit to industry has accelerated to 13.3% in December 2025 as against 7.5% in the corresponding period last year.

India’s fiscal deficit at 54.5% in December: The government data showed the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of December stood at Rs 8.55 lakh crore, or 54.5 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 56.7 per cent in the year-ago period.

Logistics & Transport stocks in focus: Shares of companies related to Logistics & Transport sector were in watch after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed a scheme for container manufacturing, with a budgetary allocation of Rs 10,000 crore over five years to create a globally competitive container manufacturing ecosystem.   

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 1546.84 points or 1.88% to 80,722.94 and the CNX Nifty was down by 495.20 points or 1.96% to 24,825.45.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 82,726.65 and 79,899.42 respectively. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.        

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.66% and TECK up by 0.04%, while PSU down by 4.17%, Metal down by 3.85%, Basic Materials down by 3.35%, Energy down by 3.14% and Capital Goods down by 3.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.92%, Infosys up by 1.17%, Sun Pharma up by 0.95% and Titan Co up by 0.33%. On the flip side, SBI down by 5.61%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 5.53%, Bharat Electronics down by 5.36%, ITC down by 3.91% and Tata Steel down by 3.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its data has showed that the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of December stood at Rs 8.55 lakh crore, or 54.5 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 56.7 per cent in the year-ago period. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.

According to data, the central government received Rs 25.25 lakh crore or 72.2 per cent of the corresponding budget estimates (BE) of 2025-26 of total receipts up to December 2025. It comprised Rs 19.39 lakh crore of tax revenue (net to Centre), Rs 5.39 lakh crore of non-tax revenue, and Rs 46,047 crore of non-debt capital receipts.

The data showed that Rs 10.38 lakh crore was transferred to states as devolution of share of taxes by the central government during April-December, which is Rs 1.37 lakh crore higher than the year-ago period. Total expenditure incurred by the central government was Rs 33.8 lakh crore (66.7 per cent of the corresponding BE 2025-26), out of which Rs 25.93 lakh crore was on the revenue account and Rs 7.87 lakh crore on the capital account. Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9.11 lakh crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 3.17 lakh crore on major subsidies.

Meanwhile, the Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled in Parliament on January 29, showed that the government is well on track to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent of GDP estimated for the current financial year based on broad trends.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,440.90 and 24,571.75 respectively. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.12%, Max Healthcare up by 1.82%, TCS up by 1.74%, Cipla up by 1.44% and Sun Pharma up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Bharat Electronics down by 6.02%, Hindalco down by 5.78%, ONGC down by 5.50%, SBI down by 5.31% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 5.06% and were the top losers.
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