Buy or sell stocks, Feb. 2 -- The Indian stock market may remain under pressure following the sharp negative reaction to the Union Budget 2026-27, triggered by a surprise hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives. Futures STT has been raised to 0.05% from 0.02%, while options STT has been increased to 0.15% from 0.10%/0.125%, significantly raising trading costs and weighing on F&O-heavy stocks and brokerage counters.

Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, believes the Indian stock market sentiment is weak as the Nifty 50 index has broken and sustained below the 200-DEMA placed at 25,200. The Prabhudas Lilladher expert said the 50-stock index is in the range of 24,400 to 25,200 and t...