Sensex Down 600 Points, Nifty 250 After Budget Speech

Indian markets suffered heavy losses amid high volatility as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026. Sensex, the 30-share pack of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), fell over 1,600 points during afternoon trade, and Nifty, representing the top 50 stocks by market value in the National Stock Exchange (NSE), lost over 500 points.

The markets, however, recovered half of the losses quickly after the end of the Budget speech. Currently, Sensex is trading 600 points lower and Nifty 250 points in the red.

The crash followed a proposal to curb excessive speculation in the futures and options (F&O) segment by hiking the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives. While the STT on future contracts would be raised to 0.05% from 0.02%, that on options will be increased to 0.15%.

The lack of an announcement on the defence sector saw the defence stocks sliding; however, a document later clarified the allocation has been increased to Rs 7.84 lakh crore from Rs 6.81 lakh crore last year. 

Experts had predicted high volatility in the market with sharp moves possible in either direction.

Both stock exchanges had announced a special trading session this Sunday in view of the ninth consecutive budget presentation by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at 11 am. However, debt and foreign exchange markets are shut. Check the Budget live updates here

Since the last budget, Nifty50 has gone up just 7.8%, underperforming in comparison with its Asian peers as record foreign outflows and muted corporate earnings hit investor sentiments.

However, policy measures like GST cuts and interest rate cuts since the last budget have improved earnings and consumption demand since.

Meanwhile, gold and silver futures have crashed about 6% each after an overnight sell-off as speculations over import duties hit jewellery traders.

The Economic Survey, released on Thursday, projects India's GDP growth in the ongoing financial year at 7.4% and between 6.8% and 7.2% in the next financial year (2026-27).