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Sensex, Nifty trade lower with selling pressure in metal, IT stocks
Jan-30-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-down opening on Friday amid weak global cues. Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with cut of around half a percent each in early deals amid selling in metal and IT stocks. Market participants took a cautious approach ahead of the Union Budget 2026 scheduled to be presented on February 1, 2026. Investors also reacted to a slew of earnings results announced after market hours the previous day. Besides, foreign fund outflows dented the sentiments. Foreign investors offloaded shares worth Rs 393.97 crore on a net basis Thursday. However, downside somewhat remained capped as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s macroeconomic fundamentals are ‘stronger than ever’ and the country has successfully navigated global headwinds, improving its potential GDP growth rate to 7 per cent. On the sectoral front, metal stocks witnessed heavy selling due to a decline in gold, silver, and base metal prices.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, dragged by tumbling technology stocks after software giant Microsoft plummeted amid slowing cloud computing growth and disappointing guidance. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2,6 percent in December. Besides, industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in December.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82145.51, down by 420.86 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 81941.03 and 82245.73. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.06%, Consumer Durables up by 0.83%, Telecom up by 0.45%, Healthcare up by 0.44% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.07%, while Metal down by 3.57%, Basic Materials down by 1.99%, IT down by 1.34%, TECK down by 1.13% and PSU down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.89%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.85%, Asian Paints up by 0.74%, Sun Pharma up by 0.47% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.24%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.11%, HCL Technologies down by 2.00%, Infosys down by 1.79%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.40% and TCS down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s growth potential, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said 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. He noted that the country also needs to pursue further process reforms in the areas of land and cost subsidisation and bring down the cost of manufacturing. Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled in Parliament, had raised the country's potential growth forecast to 7% from the earlier projection of 6.5% (estimated three years earlier).

He further said the Economic Survey presented three years ago had projected the maximum potential growth of the Indian economy at 6.5 per cent, and it could rise to between 7-8 per cent per annum in the medium-term potential reforms. He said over the past three years, reform momentum has strengthened across several areas relevant for medium-term growth.

The Survey said manufacturing-oriented initiatives, such as the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, FDI liberalisation, and logistics reforms, have supported capacity creation, and added that these efforts have been supported by sustained public investment in physical and digital infrastructure, with effective capex reaching 4% of GDP. The simplification of tax laws and the establishment of various High-Level Committees for regulatory reforms, including those involving state governments, indicate a shift toward greater regulatory clarity and certainty.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25292.25, down by 126.65 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 25218.95 and 25308.80. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Nestle up by 1.87%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.47%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.26%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.92% and ITC up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.32%, Tata Steel down by 3.17%, JSW Steel down by 2.55%, Coal India down by 2.13% and Infosys down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 486.09 points or 1.77% to 27,482.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 351.94 points or 1.08% to 32,184.33, Shanghai Composite weakened 49.52 points or 1.19% to 4,108.46, Nikkei 225 slipped 37.6 points or 0.07% to 53,338.00 and Straits Times fell 6.81 points or 0.14% to 4,923.22. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite gained 92.74 points or 1.13% to 8,324.94 and KOSPI was up by 26.24 points or 0.5% to 5,247.49.
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