Sensex, Nifty trade lower amid weekly F&O expiry

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly negative start on Tuesday and soon extended their losses amid mixed cues from Asian peers after intensifying geopolitical and tariff related tensions after US President Donald Trump's announcement of new 10 percent tariff on European countries starting February 1 and his plan to acquire Greenland. Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with cut of around half a percent each in early deals amid weekly F&O expiry. Foreign fund outflows also dented sentiments. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) maintained their selling pressure in Indian equities on January 19, recording net outflows of Rs 3,263 crore. Traders overlooked report that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India's growth projection to 7.3 per cent for fiscal 2025-26, up 0.7 percentage point from its October forecast, on the back of better-than-expected performance of the economy. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82883.13, down by 363.05 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 82873.79 and 83254.28. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.18%, while Small cap index was down by 1.21%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.11%, Capital Goods down by 1.36%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.19%, Industrials down by 1.10% and Power down by 1.09%, while there was no gainer on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.86%, SBI up by 0.75%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.59%, ICICI Bank up by 0.25% and ITC up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.93%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.65%, Trent down by 1.60%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.57% and Asian Paints down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to speed up India-US trade negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has met the US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, and American Senator Steve Daines and discussed bilateral issues. This meeting hold significance as India and the US are engaged in negotiating a bilateral trade agreement amidst a steep 50 per cent import duty imposed by the Donald Trump administration on Indian goods since August, including a 25 per cent additional import duty for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.

Gor, known to be a key member of US President Donald Trump's inner circle, took over as the Ambassador recently. Meanwhile, he had asserted that both sides are actively engaged to firm up a trade deal. Republican Senators Steve Daines of Montana and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota have urged President Trump to push for favourable provisions for pulse crops in any future trade deal with India, saying American producers face a ‘significant competitive disadvantage’ due to what they described as ‘unfair’ tariffs imposed by New Delhi.

The US remains India’s largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion, including $86.5 billion in exports from India. US markets account for around 18% of India’s total goods exports, 6.22% of imports, and 10.73% of total merchandise trade.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25457.95, down by 127.55 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 25457.05 and 25585.00. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.82%, SBI up by 0.65%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.55%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.20% and ICICI Bank up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 3.20%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.88%, JIO Financial Services down by 1.83%, Trent down by 1.71% and Asian Paints down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 618.57 points or 1.15% to 52,965.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 12.38 points or 0.3% to 4,101.62 and Taiwan Weighted lost 10.21 points or 0.03% to 31,629.08. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite rose 22.9 points or 0.25% to 9,156.77, KOSPI increased 11.75 points or 0.24% to 4,916.41, Hang Seng advanced 9.10 points or 0.03% to 26,573.00 and Straits Times was up by 3.58 points or 0.07% to 4,838.46.