Indian equities took a hard knock during Sunday’s special trading session after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures and options in the Budget 2026 speech. The surprise move sparked an aggressive sell-off in the live weekend session, sending frontline indices sharply lower.
The BSE Sensex tumbled over 1,100 points to 81,150, while the Nifty slid 383 points to 24,936 around 3 PM. The pain was not limited to benchmarks— the broader Nifty 500 index also slipped nearly 300 points, or 1.5%. More striking was the damage within the index: the top 10 laggards on the Nifty 500 plunged between 7% and 14% during the session. Here’s a look at the worst-hit stocks and the reasons behind their steep fall.