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Markets slip below neutral lines after positive start amid weekly F&O expiry
Jan-13-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start on Tuesday on account of bargain hunting, after recent sell-off, amid indications of fresh trade engagement between Indian and US. Soon, markets slipped below neutral lines and were trading lower in early deals as some cautiousness came ahead of the weekly F&O expiry. Sentiments turned subdued due to continued foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,638.40 crore on Monday. However, downside remained capped as some support came after Income Tax Department data showed that net direct tax collection grew about 8.82 per cent to over Rs 18.38 lakh crore in the current fiscal till January 11 due to slower refunds and better corporate tax mop-up.  Moreover, India and Germany have taken a significant step towards strengthening bilateral cooperation in the postal, express and logistics sector. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, extending the recent record global rally in equities with particular gains in Japan and Hong Kong, boosted by strength in mining and technology stocks. Traders remain optimistic about the outlook for interest rates.

Back home, in stock specific development, HCL Technologies traded under pressure after it reported a 13.91% drop in December quarter profit at Rs 10,657 crore, majorly due to a one-time impact of new labour codes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83735.38, down by 142.79 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 83616.14 and 84258.03. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.81%, Basic Materials up by 0.51%, PSU up by 0.25%, Oil & Gas up by 0.15% and Bankex up by 0.09%, while Telecom down by 0.51%, Healthcare down by 0.48%, Realty down by 0.48%, TECK down by 0.45% and Industrials down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.37%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.04%, SBI up by 0.98%, HDFC Bank up by 0.66% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.17%, HCL Technologies down by 1.97%, Trent down by 1.25%, Reliance Industries down by 1.10% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting favourable policy environment augur well for India's economic outlook, BMI, a Fitch Group company, in its latest report has revised upwards India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) to 7.4 per cent, up from 7.2 per cent projected earlier. It also projected GDP to rise by 7 per cent in FY27, up from 6.6 per cent estimated previously. It noted that monetary and regulatory measures should stimulate investment and consumption over 2026-27 fiscal. It said a strong advanced estimate of the current fiscal year's GDP, and rising US-bound merchandise exports during the past two months bode well for India's economic outlook.

It said foundation has already been laid for a strong October-December quarter, and added that the economy would expand by more than 9 per cent Y-o-Y in the third quarter (October-December) of FY 2025-26. It said the 2025 reforms to the goods and services tax and personal income tax systems have lowered the tax burden on households. The Reserve Bank of India also cut its policy rate by a total of 125 basis points last year. Finally, the government has pushed to implement new labour codes and allow 100 per cent foreign ownership of local insurers. It noted that the risks to its outlook are balanced, and stem from whether a future India-US trade deal that meaningfully lowers tariffs on US bound exports occurs.

Recently, the National Statistics Office (NSO) projected a 7.4 per cent GDP expansion for FY2025/26 (April-March). This implies the government expects GDP will grow by around 7 per cent Y-o-Y on average in the second half of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Indian economy grew at 6.5 per cent in 2024-25 fiscal. Moreover, the government data showed that the Indian economy grew by a robust 7.8 per cent in the first quarter (April-June), and 8.2 per cent in the second quarter (July-September).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25743.40, down by 46.85 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 25709.85 and 25899.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 2.51%, ONGC up by 2.14%, Hindalco up by 1.48%, SBI up by 0.87% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.10%, HCL Technologies down by 1.78%, Trent down by 1.24%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.21% and Cipla down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1753.11 points or 3.38% to 53,693.00, Hang Seng rose 291.52 points or 1.08% to 26,900.00, Taiwan Weighted advanced 155.1 points or 0.51% to 30,722.39, Jakarta Composite gained 56.96 points or 0.64% to 8,941.68, KOSPI increased 31.25 points or 0.68% to 4,656.04, Straits Times added 21.6 points or 0.45% to 4,788.38 and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.45 points or 0.03% to 4,163.84.
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