Sensex, Nifty trade higher amid F&O expiry

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start and soon slipped below neutral lines on Tuesday amid volatility on account of monthly expiry of F&O later in the day. However, Sensex and Nifty gained momentum and traded higher in early deals tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as well as broadly positive cues from Asian counterparts, ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy announcement later in the week. Sentiments got a boost as Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India and the European Union (EU) have concluded official-level negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) which will help boost two-way commerce and strengthen economic ties between the two sides. Some support also came as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said the FDI inflows to India in 2025 surged by 73 per cent to $47 billion, mainly due to large investments in services and manufacturing. Besides, the Reserve Bank of India said that India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by $14.167 billion to $701.36 billion during the week ended January 16.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher despite the renewed tariff war with South Korea on Seoul's failure to ratify trade deal as well as the latest geopolitical developments involving Iran. 

Back home, in stock specific development, Axis Bank trade with traction on reporting 3.98% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 7,010.65 crore for Q3FY26 as compared to Rs 6,742.29 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81781.08, up by 243.38 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 81088.59 and 81844.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.97%, Basic Materials up by 1.32%, PSU up by 0.83%, Capital Goods up by 0.71% and Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, while Realty down by 1.10%, Auto down by 0.99%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.59%, Consumer Durables down by 0.04% and FMCG down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 4.00%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.72%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.87%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.55% and Tata Steel up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.84%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.48%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.28% and Titan Co down by 0.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a positive development, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that India and the European Union (EU) have successfully concluded negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement and the deal has been finalised. He said that from the Indian perspective’s point the trade deal is balanced and forward-looking. The trade deal will help in better economic integration of the both countries.

He noted that the trade deal will propel trade and investments in both economies. He said legal scrubbing of the FTA text is underway and the endeavor will be to complete the processes and sign the pact at an early date. The deal is likely to be signed this year, and it may come into effect early next year.

Moreover, the bilateral merchandise trade between India and EU has grown substantially, reaching $136 billion in 2024-25, with EU exports to India including machinery, transport equipment, and chemicals, and imports from India featuring machinery, chemicals, base metals, mineral products, and textiles.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25152.20, up by 103.55 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 24932.55 and 25161.85. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 4.55%, Axis Bank up by 4.13%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.71%, JSW Steel up by 2.88% and Ultratech Cement up by 2.87%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.83%, Wipro down by 2.10%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.40% and Cipla down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng jumped 297.48 points or 1.1% to 27,063.00, Nikkei 225 surged 278.75 points or 0.53% to 53,164.00, Taiwan Weighted rose 234.29 points or 0.73% to 32,298.81, KOSPI increased 96.54 points or 1.95% to 5,046.13, Straits Times advanced 36.96 points or 0.76% to 4,897.89 and Shanghai Composite added 1.42 points or 0.03% to 4,134.03, while Jakarta Composite was down by 94.64 points or 1.05% to 8,880.69.