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Markets trade lacklustre in late afternoon session
Jan-06-2026

Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in late afternoon session with market heavyweights like Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank facing serious selling pressure. Besides, the looming concerns over additional US tariffs have made investors nervous. The US President Donald Trump has made fresh tariffs threats to India regarding the country’s Russian oil purchases saying Washington can raise tariffs on New Delhi ‘very quickly’. Besides, traders took a cautious approach ahead of weekly expiry of F&O contracts. Meanwhile, markets participants overlooked the SBI Research report saying crude oil prices are likely to soften faster in 2026, and this will relatively average the CPI inflation decisively below 3.4 per cent for fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27).

On the global front, All Asian equity markets were trading higher tracking positive cues from Wall Street overnight. European equity markets were trading mostly in green ahead of Germany's flash December CPI and HICP numbers. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84972.27, down by 467.35 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 84900.10 and 85397.78. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.55%, while Small cap index was down by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.15%, IT up by 0.32%, Consumer Durables up by 0.23%, TECK up by 0.22% and Auto up by 0.02%, while Energy down by 1.82%, Oil & Gas down by 1.36%, Capital Goods down by 1.01%, Industrials down by 0.75% and Utilities down by 0.69% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.79%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 1.59%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.55%, SBI up by 1.38% and TCS up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Trent down by 9.13%, Reliance Industries down by 4.48%, ITC down by 2.33%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.87% and HDFC Bank down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Railways has said that Indian Railways has maintained a strong trend in the utilization of allocated Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) outlays for 2025-26. During the first three quarters of FY 2025-26, Indian Railways has spent 80.54 per cent, i.e., Rs 2,03,138 crore of the total GBS allocation of Rs 2,52,200 crore. This represents a 6.54 per cent increase in GBS utilization as compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year. 

According to the ministry, 84 per cent of the allocated funds have been utilised in the category of safety-related works. Also, out of Rs 1,09,238 crore allocated for capacity augmentation, Rs 76,048 crore has been spent. Customer amenities have seen 80 per cent utilization, with expenditure amounting to Rs 9,575 crore till December 2025. The expenditure during this period has primarily focused on safety measures, capacity enhancement, infrastructure modernization, and passenger amenities.

Outlining the results of consistent capital expenditure (Capex) over the last decade, the ministry said these efforts have resulted in a range of initiatives, including the introduction of 164 Vande Bharat train services, 30 Amrit Bharat train services, the implementation of the Kavach automatic train protection system, over 99 per cent electrification of the broad-gauge network, and extensive works covering new lines, gauge conversion, track doubling, traffic facilities, investments in PSUs, and metropolitan transport systems. 

It noted that these initiatives have significantly improved speed, safety, and passenger comfort, while keeping rail travel affordable. With the Vande Bharat Sleeper train set for inauguration shortly, Indian Railways is poised to transform long-distance rail travel. Overall expenditure trends indicate that the Ministry of Railways’ GBS expenditure plan is on track, with infrastructural works being executed expeditiously. It also suggest that the targets for FY 2025-26 are likely to be fully achieved.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26144.50, down by 105.80 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 26125.30 and 26273.95. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospitals Enterprise up by 3.51%, ICICI Bank up by 2.80%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.43%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.87% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Trent down by 9.07%, Reliance Industries down by 4.54%, ITC down by 2.44%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.93% and HDFC Bank down by 1.63% were the top losers.

All Asian equity 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 327.76 points or 1.23% to 26,675.00, KOSPI increased 67.96 points or 1.5% to 4,525.48, Straits Times rose 48.3 points or 1.03% to 4,728.80, Shanghai Composite strengthened 60.25 points or 1.48% to 4,083.67 and Jakarta Composite gained 63.13 points or 0.71% to 8,922.32.

European equity markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 58.83 points or 0.58% to 10,063.40 and Germany’s DAX gained 84.81 points or 0.34% to 24,953.50, while France’s CAC fell 19.4 points or 0.24% to 8,192.10.
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