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Bourses continue to trade lower in early afternoon session
Jan-06-2026

Indian markets continued to trade lower in early afternoon session amid U.S. fresh tariffs concerns. Traders took note of report that India’s services sector growth moderated in December, as the rates of expansion in incoming new work and output eased to the slowest in 11 months, and companies refrained from recruiting additional staff. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.8 in November to 58.0 in December, indicating the slowest rate of expansion since January. Sector wise, fertilizer sector remained in limelight as Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) in its latest report said that India's urea imports surged 120.3% to 7.17 million tonnes (MT) during April-November 2025-26 as compared to 3.26 MT in the year-ago period with growing dependence on foreign supplies to meet farmer demand.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher despite latest geopolitical developments involving the US and Venezuela as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84995.54, down by 444.08 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 84958.27 and 85397.78. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.80%, Healthcare up by 0.69%, IT up by 0.39%, Bankex up by 0.22% and TECK up by 0.21%, while Energy down by 2.05%, Oil & Gas down by 1.65%, Utilities down by 0.75%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.59%, Power down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.61%, SBI up by 1.49%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.73%, Tata Steel up by 0.73% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Trent down by 7.67%, Reliance Industries down by 4.61%, ITC down by 1.77%, Power Grid down by 1.62% and HDFC Bank down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India services sector growth eased in the month of December but was well above the neutral mark of 50.0 to signal another substantial upturn in output. According to the survey report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index slowed down to 58.0 in December from 59.8 in November. Further, the HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also eased to 57.8 in December as against 59.7 in November.

The survey report also noted that rates of expansion in incoming new work and output eased to the slowest in 11 months, with companies refraining from recruiting additional staff. One factor that prevented firms from recruiting additional staff was a lack of pressure on their operating capacities. Outstanding business volumes were broadly stable in December, as was generally the case in both October and November.

Further, Indian services companies were confident of a rise in business activity in 2026, but the overall level of positive sentiment fell for the third straight month to its lowest in close to three-and-a-half years. On the price front, there were quicker increases in input costs and output charges than those registered in the previous month, though rates of inflation remained below their respective long-run averages.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26152.70, down by 97.60 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 26141.05 and 26273.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 2.87%, ICICI Bank up by 2.60%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.53%, Hindalco up by 2.51% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.49%. On the flip side, Trent down by 7.70%, Reliance Industries down by 4.66%, JIO Financial Serv. down by 2.23%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 1.94% and ITC down by 1.62% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 581.2 points or 1.11% to 52,414.00, Taiwan Weighted added 471.26 points or 1.54% to 30,576.30, Hang Seng advanced 414.76 points or 1.55% to 26,762.00, KOSPI increased 67.96 points or 1.5% to 4,525.48, Straits Times rose 61.8 points or 1.3% to 4,742.30, Shanghai Composite strengthened 60.25 points or 1.48% to 4,083.67 and Jakarta Composite was up by 18.64 points or 0.21% to 8,877.83.
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