BSE:IRFC News 26 December 2025

February 1, 2026, 4:13 AM EST. India's stock markets plunged after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a hike in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures and options in Budget 2026. The Nifty50 fell below 25,000, and the BSE Sensex dropped over 1,600 points before recovering. The STT increase raised transaction costs, hitting brokerages and heavyweights like Reliance Industries and State Bank of India. Shares in brokerage firms such as BSE Ltd and Angel One tumbled sharply. Experts describe the sell-off as a knee-jerk reaction fueled by concerns over rising expenses for traders and elevated market volatility. The rise in STT, intended to increase government revenue, has unsettled participants in the derivatives market, sparking broad-based sell pressure across small and mid-cap stocks.