Capital market stocks Angel One, CAMS, BSE, CDSL and others fall up to 4 per cent in today’s trade after National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan warned that the higher Securities Transaction Tax (STT) could reduce futures and options (F&O) volumes.
Around 1:20PM, the Nifty Capital Markets index was sitting in the red with a loss of 1.7 per cent. As many as 13 of 15 constituents traded lower.
Individually, Angel One was the top loser as it slipped 4 per cent to trade at ₹236.70, followed by CAMS which dropped 3.5 per cent to ₹683.50. BSE shares traded in red with a cut of more than 3 per cent at ₹2,708. 360 One Wam was down 2.2 per cent at ₹1,102 while CDSL slipped 1.9 per cent to ₹1,270.
Other than the index constituents, Groww shares skidded 1.3 per cent to ₹162.80 and NDSL dipped marginally to ₹917.
Capital market stocks are under pressure today following Ashishkumar Chauhan’s statement wherein he said that derivatives trading volumes are expected to see further degrowth from April 1, as higher STT will have an impact on activity.
“We expect some degrowth in F&O volumes after the tax changes kick in,” he had said at an event on Thursday.
Notably, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech had proposed to raise the STT on Futures to 0.05 per cent from present 0.02 per cent. She had also proposed to hike STT on options to 0.15 per cent.
The increased rates on derivatives will come into effect from April 1, 2026. SST remains a key revenue driver for brokers and exchange. Aakash Shah, research analyst, Choice Broking, said that the price structures of capital market stocks are showing loss of momentum and most stocks hovering below or near key moving averages, indicating distribution. He said that weakness is further driven by the NSE CEO’s comment on the recent STT hike.
“The proposal, aimed at curbing excessive retail speculation and strengthening risk management, signals a shift toward quality participation over volume, thereby triggering short-term technical selling and cautious momentum across the capital market space,” he said.
Meanwhile, data from OCC and NSE Market Pulse show that India’s total options turnover declined 15 per cent to $1,909 billion in 2025 from $2,247 billion a year earlier.
