Markets continue southward journey in late trade

Indian equity markets continued their southward journey during late trade as geopolitical uncertainties owed to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats regarding Greenland continued to weigh on investors’ sentiments. Trump tied Greenland sovereignty efforts to Nobel Peace Prize snub and claimed that America must have ‘Complete and Total Control of Greenland.’ Further, persistent selling by foreign institutional investors (FII) has made market participants nervous. The FIIs were the net sellers of equities worth Rs 3,262.82 crore on Friday’s session. Besides, the traders opted a risk-averse approach ahead of weekly F&O expiry. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red as the People's Bank of China left its benchmark loan prime rate unchanged as expected, despite signs of cooling growth and a prolonged debt crisis in the real estate sector. European equity markets were trading lower extending losses from the previous session after the United States deployed military aircraft to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, prompting Denmark to rush its Army chief and troops to the Arctic Island in a dramatic escalation of tensions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82671.97, down by 574.21 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 82563.90 and 83254.28. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 2.04%, while Small cap index was down by 2.22%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 4.62%, Capital Goods down by 2.27%, Consumer Discretionary down by 2.16%, Consumer Durables down by 2.09% and Industrials down by 2.01%. Meanwhile, there were no gainers on BSE sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 0.67%, SBI up by 0.21%, ICICI Bank up by 0.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.17% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 3.68%, Eternal down by 3.24%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.71%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.59% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has been ranked 16th among 154 countries in the Responsible Nations Index (RNI) 2026. Singapore was at the top in the ranking. Switzerland was second, Denmark third and the Central African Republic stood last on the 154-nation index.

On January 19, 2026, India launched the Responsible Nations Index at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, under the aegis of the World Intellectual Foundation (WIF). The Index introduces a comprehensive global framework for assessing nations on parameters such as ethical governance, social well-being, environmental stewardship, and global responsibility, going beyond conventional indicators of power and economic prosperity.

The Responsible Nations Index is the outcome of a three-year academic and policy research initiative led by the World Intellectual Foundation, with key scholarly contributions from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indian Institute of Management Mumbai.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25379.15, down by 206.35 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 25347.55 and 25585.00. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 1.41%, HDFC Bank up by 0.64%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 0.43%, SBI up by 0.18% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries down by 3.83%, Eternal down by 3.25%, Jio Financial Services down by 2.63%, Coal India down by 2.59% and Interglobe Aviation down by 2.57% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 466.57 points or 0.88% to 53,117.00, Hang Seng declined 79.9 points or 0.3% to 26,484.00, KOSPI dropped 18.91 points or 0.39% to 4,885.75, Straits Times fell 11.95 points or 0.25% to 4,822.93 and Shanghai Composite weakened 0.35 points or 0.01% to 4,113.65, while Taiwan Weighted added 120.7 points or 0.38% to 31,759.99 and Jakarta Composite gained 22 points or 0.24% to 9,155.87.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 137.92 points or 1.37% to 10,057.43, France’s CAC fell 87.32 points or 1.09% to 8,024.70 and Germany’s DAX lost 260.06 points or 1.05% to 24,699.00.