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Key gauges end lower for second day in row
Jan-06-2026

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for the second day in a row on Tuesday, dragged by heavy selling in blue-chips Trent, Reliance Industries and ITC and worries over fresh warning from the US to further raise tariffs against India. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Crude oil prices likely to soften faster in 2026: The SBI Research report has said that 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 FY27.

December sees mild cooling in India’s services sector activity: 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. 

Rupee rises against US Dollar: Indian rupee snapped the four-day losing streak and appreciated against the American currency, as weak Dollar amid disappointing US economic data supported the rupee at lower levels.

Railway stocks in watch: Indian Railways has spent 80.54 per cent, i.e., Rs 2,03,138 crore of the total Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) allocation of Rs 2,52,200 crore during the first three quarters of FY 2025-26. 

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as investors watched the latest geopolitical developments and awaited key U.S. jobs and inflation readings for additional clues on the economic and rate outlook. Asian markets settled mostly higher as investors overlooked geopolitical tensions and looked ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data for direction. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 376.28 points or 0.44% to 85,063.34 and the CNX Nifty was down by 71.60 points or 0.27% to 26,178.70.        

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 85,397.78 and 84,900.10 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.24%, while Small cap index was down by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.38%, Consumer Durables up by 0.43%, TECK up by 0.38%, IT up by 0.37% and Metal up by 0.27%, while Energy down by 1.71%, Oil & Gas down by 1.22%, Capital Goods down by 0.63%, Industrials down by 0.52% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.87%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.75%, Sun Pharma up by 1.73%, SBI up by 1.33% and TCS up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Trent down by 8.62%, Reliance Industries down by 4.42%, ITC down by 2.07%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.02% and Interglobe Aviation down by 1.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the rating agency -- India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said India's highway sector is facing problems, with subdued central road award activity for the past two years, leading to increased competition and persistent project execution issues. Further, it said that although state awards have come to the rescue, the sector is expected to see weak revenue growth and lower margins.

Moreover, the sector is expected to witness more build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects at both the central and state levels, which will require greater private investment. Besides, it projects the overall engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) sector to record modest year-on-year revenue growth of 6% to 8% in FY26, largely due to flat-to-negative growth in the highways sector, following a significant revenue decline in FY25.

It said margins are expected to bottom out in FY26, after decreasing about 500bp between FY21 and FY26. However, it said that working capital cycles may start to rise as the project mix shifts more toward state-level awards. Krishan Binani, Director, Corporate Ratings, Ind-Ra, said ‘The muted central award activity has altered the sector's dynamics, pushing states into the driver's seat. While this shift ensures continuity, it also introduces complexities around execution and financing.’

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 26,273.95 and 26,124.75 respectively. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.     

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 3.50%, ICICI Bank up by 2.80%, Tata Consumer Product up by 2.78%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.21% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.80%. On the flip side, Trent down by 8.46%, Reliance Industries down by 4.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.22%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.96% and ITC down by 1.84% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 65.25 points or 0.65% to 10,069.82 and Germany’s DAX gained 112.71 points or 0.45% to 24,981.40, while France’s CAC fell 36.3 points or 0.44% to 8,175.20.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight. Meanwhile investors were awaiting a raft of key US economic data this week for clues on the monetary policy outlook. Investors shrugged off data that showed economic activity in the US manufacturing sector contracted in December for the 10th consecutive month. China's Shanghai Composite index reached its highest levels in more than a decade driven by gains in non-ferrous metals and financials. The South Korean Kospi index broke the 4,500-point mark for the first time, buoyed by gains for semiconductors, brokerages and shipbuilders. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,083.67

60.25

1.50

Hang Seng

26,710.45

363.21

1.38

Jakarta Composite

8,933.61

74.42

0.83

KLSE Composite

1,672.35

-7.97

-0.47

Nikkei 225

52,518.08

685.28

1.32

Straits Times

4,739.97

59.47

1.27

KOSPI Composite

4,525.48

67.96

1.52

Taiwan Weighted

30,576.30

471.26

1.57
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