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Key gauges end higher for 2nd straight day
Jan-28-2026

Extending their winning streak for the second consecutive session, Indian equity benchmarks ended higher with gains of over half percent on Wednesday on renewed optimism on the external trade front following the successful conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union.

Some of the important factors in trade:

India-EU FTA credit positive for India: Moody's Ratings said the India-EU free trade pact will be credit positive for India as lower tariffs and better market access will help attract foreign investment, boost manufacturing and boost export competitiveness of the labour intensive sector. 

Budget should focus on longer-term vision to make Indian economy more resilient: Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has suggested that the Union Budget should focus on a longer-term vision to make the Indian economy more resilient and independent, while accelerating growth, as the world is experiencing an ‘extremely dangerous time.

FTA between India, EU likely to come in force within 2026 calendar year: After the announcement of the conclusion of negotiations for the historic trade pact, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU is likely to come in force within the 2026 calendar year. 

Rupee falls against US Dollar: Indian rupee pared initial gains and settled for the day in the negative territory against the US dollar, as the support from the retreating dollar index was negated by sustained foreign fund outflows.

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in red as cautious undertone prevailed ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision and earnings from major tech companies. Asian markets settled mostly higher ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 487.20 points or 0.60% to 82,344.68 and the CNX Nifty was up by 167.35 points or 0.66% to 25,342.75.   

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 82,503.97 and 81,814.75 respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.        

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 5.32%, Oil & Gas up by 3.94%, PSU up by 3.54%, Industrials up by 3.51% and Energy up by 3.42%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.82% and FMCG down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 8.90%, Eternal up by 5.09%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.20%, Power Grid Corporation up by 2.10% and Trent up by 1.91%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.34%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.39%, Sun Pharma down by 1.78%, Infosys down by 1.01% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has suggested that the Union Budget, to be presented on February 1, 2026, should focus on a longer-term vision to make the Indian economy more resilient and independent, while accelerating growth, as the world is experiencing an ‘extremely dangerous time’. He said that earlier, India had five-year plans, but even then, the country's budget was not well integrated with them.   

Rajan said ‘this is an extremely dangerous time for both the global and the Indian economy, even as we are seeing lots of positive opportunities from the tremendous investment in artificial intelligence (AI). But there is also a lot of danger from becoming too reliant on entities that can squeeze us and make us vulnerable because we do not have a natural market which is nearby, which is rich, that we can supply to other than our own.’

He emphasised that the forthcoming budget may cut some tariff rates that keep India from being well integrated into the supply chain. He said ‘and of course, the states are also helping by creating policies that are friendly towards investment. But we need more of that.’ While noting that India is the fastest-growing large economy, and that needs to be celebrated, he said ‘we also need to make as many sorts of relationships as we can, including with our neighbours, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal.’

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,372.10 and 25,187.65 respectively. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 9.21%, ONGC up by 8.18%, Coal India up by 5.27%, Eternal up by 5.06% and Hindalco up by 4.28%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Product down by 4.55%, Asian Paints down by 4.22%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.39%, Sun Pharma down by 1.89% and Max Healthcare Inst down by 1.59% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 42.3 points or 0.41% to 10,165.50 and France’s CAC fell 78.62 points or 0.96% to 8,074.20, while Germany’s DAX gained 2.26 points or 0.01% to 24,896.70.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision and key earnings from mega-cap US companies like Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple. Further, sentiments gained with US dollar declining to four-year low after the US President Donald Trump indicated that he is comfortable with the dollar’s recent decline.  Chinese shares gained the People's Bank of China lifted the offshore yuan to a 32-month high. Hong Kong shares rallied after one of China’s largest property developers -- China Vanke secured a 2.36-billion-yuan loan from Shenzhen Metro Group, its largest shareholder, to repay bond principal and interest. The Japan’s Nikkei ended marginally higher as the Bank of Japan's December minutes showed board members supported further rate hikes if the outlook for growth and prices holds. Seoul shares hit a new peak fuelled by strong gains in chipmakers and battery stocks, and after US President Donald Trump said his administration will work something out with Seoul over a trade deal.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

4,151.24

11.33

0.27

Hang Seng

27,826.91

699.96

2.58

Jakarta Composite

8,320.56

-659.67

-7.35

KLSE Composite

1,756.49

-14.76

-0.83

Nikkei 225

53,358.71

25.17

0.05

Straits Times

4,909.34

-13.68

-0.28

KOSPI Composite

5,170.81

85.96

1.69

Taiwan Weighted

32,803.82

485.90

1.50
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