Indian equity indices ended lower for a third straight session on July 23, with a mix of announcements by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech.

Indian shares ended little changed on Tuesday after falling sharply early in the day as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and long-term capital gains (LTCG) taxes in her Budget speech.
"It is proposed to increase the rates of STT on the sale of an option in securities from 0.0625 percent to 0.1 percent of the option premium, and on sale of a futures in securities from 0.0125 percent to 0.02 percent of the price at which such futures are traded," the FM said in a move that appears to aim at reining in rampant F&O trading.
The long-term capital gains (LTCG) on all financial and non-financial assets will now attract a tax rate of 12.5 percent from 10 percent earlier. Short-term gains on certain financial assets shall henceforth attract a tax rate of 20 percent from 15 percent earlier.

The announcements triggered a knee-jerk reaction, with benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty both plunging around 2 percent each before paring losses later.

At close, the Sensex was down 73.04 points or 0.09 percent at 80,429.04, and the Nifty was down 30.20 points or 0.12 percent at 24,479.

Amid positive global cues, the Indian indices started high but erased all gains and traded flat in the first half. In the second half, the profit booking dragged the Nifty below 24,100 after Finance Minister hiked the long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) on all financial and non-financial to 12.5 percent from 10 percent, in the Union Budget for 2024-25. However, the last-hour buying helped it to end on a flat note.

Titan Company, Tata Consumer, ITC, NTPC and Adani Ports were among the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included L&T, ONGC, Hindalco, Shriram Finance and Bajaj Finance.

Among sectors, FMCG, healthcare, media and IT indices were up 0.5-2.5 percent. However, bank, capital goods, metal, oil & gas and reality were down 1-2 percent.

The BSE midcap index shed 0.7 percent, while the smallcap index ended on a flat note.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex ended the session down 73 points at 80,429, after having hit an intraday low of 79,224.

The broader NSE Nifty index hit a low of 24,074 before closing at 24,479, down 30 points from its previous close.

ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Hindalco and Larsen & Toubro fell 2-3 percent in the Nifty pack while Adani Ports, NTPC, Tata Consumer Products, ITC and Titan Company surged 3-7 percent.