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Sensex, Nifty trade under pressure as strong IIP data overshadowes by pre-budget caution
Jan-29-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly negative start on Thursday and soon extended their losses amid mixed global cues. Sensex and Nifty were trading under pressure with cut of over half a percent each in early deals as strong IIP data overshadowed by pre-budget caution. The Economic Survey 2025-26 to be tabled during the Budget Session of Parliament later in the day ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech on February 1. Weakness in domestic currency also dampened the sentiments. The rupee fell against the U.S. dollar, pressured by heightened month-end demand for the greenback and lingering geopolitical concerns. However, traders largely overlooked the government data which showed the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) surged 7.8% in December 2025, its fastest pace in over two years, driven by strong manufacturing (8.1% YoY growth) and mining output. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on January 28, 2026.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as traders remained concerned amid the looming threat of war in the Middle East as Iran rejected any nuclear talks under the threat, even as a massive U.S. armada nears the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is already deployed in West Asia. Back home, fertiliser sector’s stocks were in focus as provisional data released by the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) stated that urea sales in the country increased 3.8 per cent to 31.16 million tonnes during April-December 2025 on account of higher imports, even as domestic production declined marginally.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81858.30, down by 486.38 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 81858.30 and 82386.79. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.49%, Oil & Gas up by 1.11%, Power up by 0.82%, Energy up by 0.75% and PSU up by 0.75%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.46%, IT down by 1.27%, Auto down by 1.08%, TECK down by 1.03% and FMCG down by 1.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.72%, Tata Steel up by 1.73%, NTPC up by 1.54%, Power Grid up by 1.02% and SBI up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.90%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.68%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.13%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.97% and Titan Company down by 1.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s industrial output growth, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), surged to over a two-year high of 7.8 per cent in the month of December 2025 from 7.2 per cent in November 2025 and a 3.7 per cent in December 2024. The growth in factory output was supported by strong performances in mining, manufacturing and electricity. The National Statistics Office (NSO) has revised the industrial production growth for November 2025 to 7.2 per cent from the provisional estimate of 6.7 per cent released last month. The Quick Estimates of IIP stood at 170.3 for December 2025 against 158.7 in November 2025 and 158.0 in December 2024. During the April-December period of FY26, the country's industrial production grew by 3.9 per cent compared to 4.1 per cent in the corresponding period of last year. 

Mining production surged by 6.8 per cent in the December month of 2025 against a growth of 2.7 per cent recorded a year ago and 5.8 per cent in November 2025. The manufacturing sector, which comprises the largest component of the index, expanded by 8.1 per cent in December 2025 against 3.7 per cent in the year-ago month, while the growth was 8.5 per cent in November 2025. Growth in electricity production inched up to 6.3 per cent in December 2025 against 6.2 per cent in the year-ago period and contraction of 1.5 per cent in November 2025. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of December 2025 stood at 153.0, 169.9 and 204.9, respectively. 

Within the manufacturing sector, 16 out of 23 industry groups at NIC 2 digit-level have recorded a positive growth in December 2025 over December 2024. The top three positive contributors for the month of December 2025 are - ‘Manufacture of basic metals’ (12.7%), ‘Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ (33.5%) and ‘Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products’ (10.2%).

As per the use base classification, the output of primary goods rose to 4.4 per cent in December 2025 against 3.8 per cent growth a year earlier. The capital goods segment growth slipped to 8.1 per cent in December 2025 from 10.5 per cent in the year-ago period. The expansion in the intermediate goods segment was 7.5 per cent in the month under review against 6.4 per cent a year ago. Output of infrastructure/construction accelerated 12.1 per cent in December 2025, from 8.4 per cent in the year-ago period. Consumer durables (or white goods production) growth jumped to 12.3 per cent during the reporting month against 8.1 per cent in December 2024. In December 2025, consumer non-durables output stood at 8.3 per cent as against a contraction of 7.1 per cent a year ago.

The indices stood at 164.6 for Primary Goods, 124.0 for Capital Goods, 182.8 for Intermediate Goods and 219.1 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of December 2025. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 139.0 and 180.7, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25210.70, down by 132.05 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 25207.80 and 25359.35. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.42%, ONGC up by 2.33%, Hindalco up by 1.79%, Tata Steel up by 1.60% and NTPC up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.00%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.65%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.49%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.39% and Asian Paints down by 2.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng rose 168.09 points or 0.6% to 27,995.00, Nikkei 225 surged 78.29 points or 0.15% to 53,437.00, KOSPI increased 33.85 points or 0.65% to 5,204.66 and Straits Times added 2.68 points or 0.05% to 4,912.02. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite plunged 473.56 points or 5.69% to 7,847.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 204.46 points or 0.62% to 32,599.36 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.09 points or 0.1% to 4,147.15.
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