Bourses trim some losses in early afternoon session

Indian markets trimmed some of their losses in early afternoon session but continued to trade in red.  Investors were cautious ahead of the Union Budget 2026 scheduled to be presented on February 1, 2026.  Besides, selling in IT and Metal sector’s stocks kept the markets lower. However, losses got trimmed as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has stated that the country can achieve potential growth rate of 7.5% in the next few years. For this, he said the country needs to emphasis on strengthening manufacturing and export competitiveness. Sector wise, sugar stocks remained in limelight as All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA), in its estimate for the season, has said that India's sugar production is likely to rise 13 per cent to 29.6 million tonnes in the 2025-26 season ending September, excluding diversion for ethanol, but exports will remain below the permitted quota at 8 lakh tonnes. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would announce his pick for the next Federal Reserve chair. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82219.85, down by 346.52 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 81941.03 and 82282.39. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.66%, FMCG up by 1.14%, Healthcare up by 0.64%, Consumer Durables up by 0.59% and Capital Goods was up by 0.58%, while Metal down by 4.54%, Basic Materials down by 2.23%, IT down by 1.12%, Energy down by 1.11% and Utilities was down by 1.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.36%, Axis Bank up by 0.95%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.92%, ITC up by 0.80% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 5.19%, Infosys down by 1.93%, Power Grid down by 1.78%, ICICI Bank down by 1.57% and HCL Tech down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its 'Flash Report on Central Sector Infrastructure Projects' for December 2025 has shown a cumulative cost overrun of Rs 5.42 lakh crore in 1,392 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more. The cost of 1,392 projects monitored by the MoSPI was revised at Rs 35,10,920 crore as compared to their original cost of Rs 29,68,248 crore. The revised cost of these projects was reported on MoSPI’s newly operationalised portal -- PAIMANA (Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation-building), for the monitoring of central sector infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, replacing the OCMS-2006 (Online Computerised Monitoring System).

The report highlighted that the cumulative expenditure incurred on 1392 under implementation projects stood at Rs 19.01 lakh crore as of December 2025, accounting for around 54.1% of the revised project cost. Further, out of the 1,392 ongoing infrastructure projects, 33% or 469 projects have achieved over 80% physical progress, while 16% or 221 projects have crossed 80% financial completion, reflecting that a substantial portion of projects are at advanced stages of implementation.

Moreover, the Transport & Logistics sector accounts for the highest number of ongoing projects (896 projects), with revised estimates of Rs 17.70 lakh crore, underscoring the priority to connectivity-driven infrastructure growth. Besides, 585 out of the total projects are 'mega' projects which worth Rs 1,000 crore and above and have cumulative revised cost of Rs 31.44 lakh crore. Meanwhile, 807 projects are 'major' projects which worth between Rs 150 crore and Rs 1,000 crore and have cumulative revised cost of Rs 3.66 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25306.95, down by 111.95 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 25218.95 and 25323.15. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer up by 2.46%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.12%, Nestle up by 1.79%, SBI up by 1.22% and Bharat Electronics up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.42%, Tata Steel down by 5.15%, Coal India down by 3.75%, Infosys down by 2.02% and ONGC down by 1.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite gained 96.95 points or 1.16% to 8,329.15, Nikkei 225 surged 73.4 points or 0.14% to 53,449.00 and KOSPI was up by 3.11 points or 0.06% to 5,224.36. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 8.98 points or 0.18% to 4,921.05, Shanghai Composite weakened 38.97 points or 0.95% to 4,119.01, Taiwan Weighted lost 472.52 points or 1.47% to 32,063.75 and Hang Seng was down by 554.09 points or 1.98% to 27,414.00.