Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day losing run on Tuesday as traders preferred to buy stocks at lowest levels. Till the end of the session, indices traded in green as traders continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks ahead of Union Budget. After making positive start, markets extended their gains and touched day’s high levels but in last leg of trade come off from day’s high. 

Some of the important factors for the markets:

RBI's liquidity measures boost markets: Sentiments got support as India's central bank announced a host of measures to inject liquidity in the banking system, including bond purchases and dollar/rupee swaps. The Reserve Bank of India will buy government bonds worth Rs 60,000 crore ($6.96 billion) in three tranches and conduct a 56-day variable rate repo auction worth Rs 50,000 crore on February 7.

Traders eyeing US FOMC meeting: Globally investors were keenly awaiting the two-day US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting starting today. 

Strong moves in banking and financial sector stocks: Banking and Financial sectors’ stocks witnessed heavy buying during the day as RBI announced slew of measured to boost liquidity. Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank were on the priority list of the buyers.

Global front: European markets were trading higher as French consumer confidence rose to 92 in January from 89 in the previous month. Asian markets ended mixed in thin trade on Tuesday as investors awaited cues from this week's Fed and ECB meetings.

The BSE Sensex ended at 75,901.41, up by 535.24 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 75,622.88 and 76,512.96. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.61%, while Small cap index down by 1.77%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.49%, Realty up by 1.27%, Auto up by 1.16% and Consumer Disc was up by 0.23%, while Healthcare down by 1.92%, Industrials down by 1.61%, Capital Goods down by 1.58%, Power down by 1.47% and Utilities was down by 1.44% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 4.39%, Axis Bank up by 3.82%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.28%, HDFC Bank up by 2.66% and Tata Motors up by 2.64%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.47%, Power Grid down by 1.11%, ITC down by 1.08%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.03% and HCL Tech down by 1.01% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to inject liquidity into the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it will purchase government securities worth Rs 60,000 crore in three tranches and announced several steps. As part of measures to manage liquidity conditions, the central bank also announced a USD/INR Buy/Sell Swap auction of $5 billion for tenor of six months to be held on January 31, 2025.

To inject liquidity, the RBI said open market operations (OMO) purchase auctions of Government of India securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 60,000 crore in three tranches of Rs 20,000 crore each to be held on January 30, 2025, February 13, 2025, and February 20, 2025.

Besides, 56-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction for a notified amount of Rs 50,000 crore to be held on February 7, 2025. It said ‘The Reserve Bank will continue to monitor evolving liquidity and market conditions and take measures as appropriate to ensure orderly liquidity conditions.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 22,957.25, up by 128.10 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 22,857.65 and 23,137.95. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 4.26%, Axis Bank up by 3.77%, Shriram Finance up by 3.61%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.35% and HDFC Bank up by 2.49%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.55%, Britannia down by 2.23%, Hindalco down by 2.22%, Grasim Industries down by 1.90% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.79% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 43.31 points or 0.51% to 8,547.02, France’s CAC rose 30.59 points or 0.39% to 7,937.17 and Germany’s DAX was up by 93.62 points or 0.44% to 21,375.80.

Asian markets ended mixed in thin trade on Tuesday, with several Asia-Pacific markets such as China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. Meanwhile, investors were cautious on renewed concerns about US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and investors awaited cues from this week's US Fed and ECB meetings. Japanese shares declined amid heavyweight chip-related shares extended losses for the second day by tracking an overnight drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index in the Wall Street market, as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s challenge to America’s global leadership in artificial intelligence threatens Asian tech companies part of the United States.