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Sensex, Nifty trade lower with marginal losses amid US-Venezuela conflicts
Jan-05-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start on Monday and soon turned volatile amid rising geopolitical tensions after the U.S. attacked Venezuela. Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with marginal losses in early deals amid selling in IT and Teck stocks. However, downside remained capped amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 289.80 crore on Friday. Traders took note of think tank GTRI’s statement that the US-Venezuela conflict will have a negligible impact on India's trade with the South American country. Besides, the Reserve Bank said that India's forex reserves jumped by $3.293 billion to $696.61 billion in the week to December 26.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher as investors looked past U.S. military action over the weekend in Venezuela and shifted focus to upcoming economic data and corporate earnings. Japan's Nikkei index surged as data showed Japan's manufacturing activity steadied in December after five months of contraction. 

Back home, shares of oil companies were in focus amid the conflict between the US and Venezuela. American forces carried out a large military operation in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and taking them to the US to face various charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 85577.74, down by 184.27 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 85516.75 and 85800.87. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.88%, Capital Goods up by 0.58%, Basic Materials up by 0.40%, Metal up by 0.39% and PSU up by 0.35%, while IT down by 1.89%, TECK down by 1.44%, Utilities down by 0.61%, Power down by 0.46% and Oil & Gas down by 0.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.95%, Axis Bank up by 1.35%, Tata Steel up by 1.18%, Asian Paints up by 1.07% and ICICI Bank up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.03%, HCL Technologies down by 2.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.71%, Eternal down by 1.53% and TCS down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid recent U.S.-Venezuela tensions, the think tank - Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that India is unlikely to face any material economic or energy impact due to the US-Venezuela conflict. On January 4, American forces carried out a large military operation in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and taking them to the US to face various charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said India faces negligible impact, as trade with Venezuela has collapsed under sanctions, with crude imports down 81.3% in FY2025 and overall bilateral trade remaining marginal. 

He added that although India was a major buyer of Venezuelan crude in the 2000s and 2010s, bilateral engagement has weakened sharply since 2019 due to US sanctions, which forced India to cut oil imports and scale back commercial activity to avoid secondary sanctions. As a result, India's trade with Venezuela is now small and declining. In FY2025, India's total imports from Venezuela were just $364.5 million, of which crude oil accounted for $255.3 million, an 81.3% drop from $1.4 billion in crude imports in FY2024.

India's exports to Venezuela were modest at $95.3 million, led by pharmaceuticals worth $41.4 million. Srivastava said ‘Given the low trade volumes, existing sanctions constraints, and the large geographical distance, the current developments in Venezuela are not expected to have any meaningful impact on India's economy or energy security’. Venezuela holds about 18% of the world's oil reserves, more than Saudi Arabia (around 16%), Russia (about 5-6%), or the United States (around 4%).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26279.25, down by 49.30 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 26263.60 and 26358.25. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.93%, Axis Bank up by 1.35%, Nestle up by 1.23%, Tata Steel up by 1.13% and Asian Paints up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.01%, HCL Technologies down by 2.65%, Wipro down by 2.19%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.59% and Eternal down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1360.52 points or 2.7% to 51,700.00, Taiwan Weighted jumped 934.71 points or 3.18% to 30,284.52, KOSPI rose 116.95 points or 2.71% to 4,426.58, Shanghai Composite strengthened 42.61 points or 1.07% to 4,011.45, Jakarta Composite gained 35 points or 0.4% to 8,783.13 and Straits Times added 27.12 points or 0.58% to 4,683.24, while Hang Seng declined 15.47 points or 0.06% to 26,323.00.
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