Shares of stockbroking firms rebound to end higher; Angel One climbs nearly 4 pc

Shares of the majority of stockbroking firms rebounded and ended higher on Monday, a day after falling sharply as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on Futures and Options trade to discourage small investors from speculative trading in derivatives. The stock of Angel One jumped 3.89 per cent, Monarch Networth Capital rallied 3.34 per cent, Geojit Financial Services climbed 2.72 per cent, Anand Rathi Share And Stock Brokers went up by 1.79 per cent, 5paisa Capital advanced 1.05 per cent and Dolat Algotech (0.39 per cent) on the BSE. Earlier in the day, these stocks had declined. A sharp rebound in stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty also helped recovery in these stocks. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 943.52 points or 1.17 per cent to settle at 81,666.46. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 262.95 points or 1.06 per cent to end at 25,088.40. Shares of Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of Groww, however ended 2.29 per cent lower. Stockbroking firms had faced selling pressure in the previous trade also. ''Indian equities ended sharply lower on Sunday as the finance minister proposed an increase in the STT on F&O transactions in the Union Budget 2026. Higher STT directly impacts the trading profitability for active participants and raises concerns around liquidity and volume growth. This triggered a strong selling pressure in capital market stocks including brokerages and exchanges,'' Ajay Menon, MD & CEO – Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said. In her Budget speech for 2026-27, Sitharaman said the STT on futures contracts will be raised to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent. ''STT on options premium and exercise of options are both proposed to be raised to 0.15 per cent from the present rate of 0.1 per cent and 0.125 per cent, respectively,'' she said. Kotak Securities Managing Director and Chief Executive Shripal Shah said the steep increase in STT is likely to raise impact costs for traders, hedgers, and arbitrageurs. ''The intent appears to be volume moderation rather than revenue maximisation, as any potential revenue gain could be offset by lower derivative volumes,'' he added. A Balasubramanian, Managing Director and CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, said the increase in STT on derivatives may impact trading, but it should be looked at as an encouragement to gradually shift towards the cash market and long-term investing.