Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets held their gains and ended in green for yet another day. After making cautious start, indices gained traction and maintained their gains till the end ahead of weekly F&O expiry. During day, markets traded with limited gains as investors adopt cautious strategies ahead of quarterly earnings and the Union Budget.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

China announces slew of measures to stabilize its stock markets: China’s financial regulators unveiled a slew of measures to urge large state-owned mutual funds and insurers to purchase more shares, as Beijing seeks to bolster the faltering stock market. 

IT index emerges as a top performer: IT index provided optimism during the day driven by robust Q3 earnings and relief from protectionist tariffs imposed during the Trump administration. In a day, Zensar Technologies, Coforge, Persistent Systems ended with healthy gains after announcing Q3 numbers. 

Foreign fund outflows: The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling on the 14th day as they offloaded equities worth Rs 4,026 crore on January 22.

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green amid French manufacturing sentiment deteriorated more than expected in January on falling orders. The manufacturing sentiment index registered 95 in January, down from 97 in December. The score was expected to drop to 96. Asian markets ended mixed as traders awaited key announcements on tariffs from the Trump administration and policy decisions from several major central banks in the coming weeks.

The BSE Sensex ended at 76,523.63, up by 118.64 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 76,202.12 and 76,743.54. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.76%, while Small cap index gained by 0.67%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 1.86%, Consumer Durables up by 1.85%, IT up by 1.51%, Healthcare up by 1.30% and Consumer Disc was up by 1.23%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.51%, Bankex down by 0.36% and Energy was down by 0.31% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 6.60%, Zomato up by 2.45%, Sun Pharma up by 2.17%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.99% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.69%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 1.21%, HCL Tech down by 1.15%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.14%, Reliance Industries down by 1.06% and SBI down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has said that India is a fast-developing country, but its development needs to be inclusive, equitable, ecologically sustainable and morally desirable without compromising the planet’s health. He asserted that the country’s consumption should be need-based and not greed-based, stressing that behaviors need to change to ensure sustainability. There is a need to do away with the ‘use-and-dispose’ economy.

Singh also pointed out that India’s constitutional makers were aware of the great ancestors’ thoughts and deep respect for nature, which is why a directive to protect, improve and safeguard the environment was established. He further stated that the Indian constitution made it a fundamental duty of all the citizens to protect and improve the natural environment and have compassion for living creatures. 

He enumerated the green initiatives taken by the Government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as Mission LiFE which envisions replacing mindless consumption with a mindful circular economy; ‘Pro-Planet People’ to enable environmentally-friendly behaviors; National Green Hydrogen Mission to make India the Global Hub for the production, usage and export of Green Hydrogen; Green Credit Program to focus on tree plantation on degraded forest land parcels, and ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, a unique nationwide tree plantation initiative.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23,205.35, up by 50.00 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 23,090.65 and 23,270.80. There were 32 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.  (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 6.80%, Grasim Industries up by 3.06%, Wipro up by 2.78%, Shriram Finance up by 2.15% and Eicher Motors up by 2.13%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.29%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.18%, HCL Tech down by 1.13%, Power Grid down by 1.08% and Reliance Industries down by 1.05% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 12.31 points or 0.16% to 7,849.71 and Germany’s DAX was up by 49.44 points or 0.23% to 21,303.71. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 10.49 points or 0.12% to 8,534.64. 

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday due to uncertainty over tariffs from the US Trump administration and ahead of policy decisions from several major central banks in the coming weeks. Chinese shares gained after China announced a plans to channel hundreds of billions of yuan of investment from state-owned insurers into shares as part of the government's latest efforts to support a struggling stock market. Also, China's capital market regulator pledged to step up efforts to propel cross-border investment and financing, increase the appeal of A-shares to international investors, and enhance communication to address investor concerns and their legitimate demands. Japanese shares rose, tracking Wall Street’s gains overnight driven by optimism over artificial intelligence spending, while investors are awaiting the CPI data and the BoJ rate decision due Friday. Meanwhile, Seoul shares declined sharply after data showed South Korean economy barely grew in the fourth quarter of 2024 and missed the market expectations amidst the worst political crisis in decades.