Nifty snaps three-day gaining streak ahead of Union Budget 2026

30 Jan 2026 Evaluate

Snaping three-day gaining streak, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower on Friday ahead of Union Budget 2026. Index made a gap-down start following broadly negative cues from other Asian markets. Index continued lacklustre trade in red during morning session as market participants avoided risky bids ahead of Union Budget 2026 scheduled to be presented on February 1, 2026. Meanwhile, renewed foreign fund outflow weighted on inventors’ sentiments. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equity worth Rs 393.97 crore on Thursday. Further, some cautiousness came with the government report stating that several infrastructure projects worth above Rs 150 crore each registered a cumulative cost overrun of Rs 5.42 lakh crore. In afternoon session, index saw some recovery but remained under pressured till end of the session.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Media, FMCG and Consumer Durables stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Private Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Vodafone Idea, Blue Star and Aurobindo Pharma. On the other hand, the top losers were Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta and National Aluminium Company. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 24900 - 25100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

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