Defence Stocks Plunge 14% Post-Budget: Nifty Defence Index Down 9%

• Defence sector shares experienced a sharp decline of up to 14% after the budget announcements on Sunday, February 1.
• The Nifty Defence Index dropped by approximately 9% to 7,458.65, with several individual stocks falling significantly.
• Market experts attribute the fall to capital expenditure (capex) allocation for defence being lower than market expectations, despite an overall increase.
• Bharat Dynamics (BDL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Data Patterns India, and Paras Defence saw major declines.
• Investors had anticipated a larger budget increase, especially after 'Operation Sindoor,' but the actual allocation disappointed.

Why It Matters: Defence stocks plummeted post-budget due to lower-than-expected capital expenditure allocation, despite an overall increase.