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Key indices end in green on Friday
Jan-16-2026

Indian equity benchmarks erased most of their initial gains but managed to end in green on Friday, driven by a sharp jump in Infosys after the company raised its revenue growth guidance for FY26. However, gains remain capped as exchange data showed foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,781.24 crore on Wednesday. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

World Bank upwardly revises India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2% for FY26: Highlighting robust domestic demand and tax reforms, the World Bank has upwardly revised India’s GDP growth forecast by 0.9 percentage points to 7.2% for FY26, from its June projections of 6.3%. 

India sees merchandise exports growth of 1.87% in December: The commerce ministry’s data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose 1.87 per cent to $38.5 billion in December 2025 as compared to $37.80 billion in December 2024, despite persistent global economic headwinds.  

Unemployment rate in India rises marginally to 4.8% in December: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has showed the unemployment rate among people aged 15 and above grew marginally to 4.8% in the month of December 2025 from 4.7% in November 2025. 

India, EU very close on FTA: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrwal said that India and the EU are very close to concluding negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with discussions underway to resolve remaining issues so that the deal is ready for announcement during the visit of top leadership later this month.

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green on optimism about tech earnings and easing geopolitical concerns. Asian markets ended mixed amid easing geopolitical concerns about a confrontation between the U.S. and Iran.  

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 187.64 points or 0.23% to 83,570.35 and the CNX Nifty was up by 28.75 points or 0.11% to 25,694.35.          

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 84,134.97 and 83,456.50 respectively. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.15%, while Small cap index was down by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.39%, TECK up by 2.39%, Bankex up by 1.16%, Oil & Gas up by 0.43% and Realty up by 0.33%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.37%, Capital Goods down by 1.23%, Healthcare down by 1.16%, Power down by 1.13% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.80% were the losing indices on BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 5.42%, Infosys up by 5.26%, HCL Technologies up by 1.64%, SBI up by 1.24% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 3.43%, Asian Paints down by 2.23%, Sun Pharma down by 2.21%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.99% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has showed the unemployment rate among people aged 15 and above grew marginally to 4.8% in the month of December 2025 from 4.7% in November 2025. During December, the unemployment rate in rural areas remained stagnant at 3.9%, while it rose to 6.7% in Urban India from 6.5% in the previous month. Meanwhile, joblessness among rural males remained low and stable at 4.1%, while unemployment rate among urban female moderated to 9.1% during December from 9.3% in November 2025. The survey noted that joblessness in the remaining gender sector increased slightly, continued to remain below the levels observed during the mid-year months.

In December, the overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) rose marginally to 53.4% from 53.2% in November. The WPR among rural males has edged up to 76% in December from 75.4% in November, while it declined to 70.4% among urban males in December from 70.9% in November, pushing the overall male WPR to 74.1%. Further, the WPR among females rose marginally from 38.4% in November to 38.6% during December, while urban female WPR was around 23%, leading to an overall female WPR of 33.6% in December 2025 from 33.4% in November.

The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among persons of age 15 years and above showed an upward trend, overall LFPR rising to 56.1% in December 2025 compared to 55.8% in November. The LFPR in rural areas has increased to 59% in December from 58.6% in the preceding month. Meanwhile, urban areas experienced a slight dip to 50.2% during December from 50.4% in November.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,873.50 and 25,662.40respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.      

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 5.58%, Tech Mahindra up by 5.26%, Wipro up by 2.54%, HCL Technologies up by 2.41% and TCS up by 2.34%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 3.76%, JIO Financial Services down by 3.15%, Cipla down by 2.54%, Hindalco down by 2.44% and Asian Paints down by 2.03% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 3.11 points or 0.03% to 10,242.05 and Germany’s DAX gained 44.21 points or 0.17% to 25,396.60, while France’s CAC fell 24.82 points or 0.3% to 8,288.30.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, despite Wall Street’s gains overnight followed by strong earnings reports from banks and chipmakers. Better-than-expected weekly US jobless claims data boosted expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep rates on hold for the next several months. Hong Kong shares declined on profit taking after a strong earnings outlook from Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC bolstered confidence in the durability of AI-related demand and lifted risk appetite globally. Investors were anxiously awaiting forthcoming economic growth data from China slated for release on Monday. Japanese shares fell due to increasing political uncertainty surrounding an anticipated snap election. Meanwhile, Seoul shares hit another new high as momentum in the artificial intelligence sector picked up. 

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,101.91

-10.69

-0.26

Hang Seng

26,844.96

-78.66

-0.29

Jakarta Composite

--

--

--

KLSE Composite

1,712.74

-2.42

-0.14

Nikkei 225

53,936.17

-174.33

-0.32

Straits Times

4,849.10

15.76

0.33

KOSPI Composite

4,840.74

43.19

0.90

Taiwan Weighted

31,408.70

598.12

1.94
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