Sensex cracks over 300 points, Nifty below 10,950

New Delhi: Stock markets fell in opening trade after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced long-term capital gains tax of 10 percent on stock market gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh.

Benchmark Sensex slid over 300 points while the NSE Nifty opened below 10,950 level on Friday as markets gave a thumbs down to Budget proposals like long-term capital gains tax on equities.

Sentiment also took a hit after the fiscal deficit target for 2017-18 was raised to 3.5 percent of GDP as against 3.2 percent earlier.

The target for 2018-19 has been fixed at 3.3 percent as against the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act target of 3 percent.