Indices plunge 2% as STT hike on Futures dampen sentiment

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty dived sharply by nearly 2 per cent on Sunday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives.

Reversing the early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged sharply by 2,370.36 points or 2.88 per cent to slide below the 80,000-mark at 79,899.42 in afternoon trade as the finance minister announced a hike in STT on futures contracts to 0.05 per cent from the current 0.02 per cent.

The barometer settled at 80,722.94, down 1,546.84 points or 1.88 per cent. The 50-share NSE Nifty tanked 495.20 points or 1.96 per cent to settle at 24,825.45. During the day, it tumbled 748.9 points or 2.95 per cent to 24,571.75. Stock exchanges held a special Budget Day trading session on Sunday in view of the budget presentation by Sitharaman for the next financial year.

“Market unease, however, is centred on the increase in STT on F&O, particularly the sharper hike on futures. This comes on the back of higher capital gains taxes last year, raising overall transaction costs for market participants,” Pranav Haridasan, MD and CEO, Axis Securities, said.

Futures are a margined, risk-managed product and not typically the primary source of retail excess, which raises questions on whether higher STT will deliver the desired outcome or instead weigh on liquidity, participation and India’s market cost competitiveness, he noted.

“These concerns are being voiced by foreign investors and domestic traders, and are reflected in the immediate market reaction,” Haridasan added. From the 30 Sensex firms, State Bank of India tanked 5.61 per cent, while Adani Ports lost 5.53 per cent. Bharat Electronics, ITC, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were also among the laggards. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Titan were the gainers.

Among indices, BSE PSU Bank dived the most by 5.60 per cent, metal tanked 3.85 per cent, commodities (3.35 per cent), energy (3.14 per cent), capital goods (3.02 per cent), utilities (2.98 per cent), industrials (2.66 per cent) and power (2.52 per cent). IT and BSE Focused IT were the winners. A total of 2,375 stocks declined while 1,759 advanced and 175 remained unchanged on the BSE.

“The increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT), especially in futures and options, is likely to act as a marginal negative for foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows in the near term, particularly for high-frequency and derivative-focused global funds,” Aakash Shah, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking, said.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2,251.37 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. “The proposed increased STT in F&O is a dampener for capital market entities in the short term, but may augur well in the long term,” HDFC Securities’ managing director and chief executive Dhiraj Relli said.