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Market Performance Today

The domestic equity market witnessed a "V-shaped" recovery on Thursday, January 29, 2026. After a weak opening that saw the Sensex tumble over 600 points, buying interest returned in the second half of the session.

• BSE Sensex: Closed at 82,566.37, up 221.69 points or 0.27%.
• NSE Nifty 50: Ended at 25,418.90, gaining 76.15 points or 0.30%.

The indices managed to close in positive territory for the third consecutive session, reclaiming key psychological levels as investors processed the government's economic outlook ahead of the Union Budget.

Top Movers (Sectors and Stocks)

The recovery was primarily led by the metal and financial sectors, while consumption and IT stocks remained under pressure.

Top Gainers:

• Tata Steel: Surged 4.37% as metal stocks outperformed on cyclical optimism.
• Larsen & Toubro (L&T): Gained 3.66% following reports of record-high order inflows.
• Axis Bank: Rose 3.33%, leading the charge for private lenders.
• Hindustan Copper: Locked in a 20% upper circuit (or near-record gains) amid soaring global copper prices.
• Vedanta: Rallied after reporting strong Q3 results with significant year-on-year revenue growth.

Top Losers:

• Asian Paints: Fell 3.65%, continuing to face pressure from rising input costs.
• SBI Life Insurance: Declined 2.77% as investors turned cautious on insurance heavyweights.
• Maruti Suzuki: Slipped 2.52% after its Q3 earnings missed street expectations despite a modest rise in profit.
• Interglobe Aviation (IndiGo): Dropped 2.70% amid rising crude oil prices and global supply chain concerns.

Key Drivers of Today's Market

Several domestic and global factors dictated the market's trajectory throughout the day:

• Economic Survey 2026: The survey tabled in Parliament projected India's GDP growth at 6.8%–7.2% for FY27. This optimistic long-term view provided the necessary cushion for the market to bounce back from early losses.
• Currency Volatility: The Indian Rupee hit a historic low, touching 92.00 against the U.S. Dollar. While this initially weighed on sentiment, suspected RBI intervention helped stabilize the currency near 91.95.
• US Federal Reserve: The Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady in the 3.5%–3.75% range kept global cues mixed, with no immediate dovish signals for emerging markets.
• Pre-Budget Caution: With the Union Budget scheduled for February 1, traders engaged in selective buying and short-covering, avoiding aggressive positions in a high-volatility environment.

Broader Market Performance

The broader market mirrored the benchmarks' resilience, though the advance-decline ratio remained slightly in favor of the bears for much of the day.

• Nifty Midcap 100: Closed 0.2% higher, recovering from an intraday dip of nearly 0.7%.
• Nifty Smallcap 100: Ended with a modest gain of 0.2%, supported by buying in the metal and engineering services space.
• Market Breadth: Out of 4,619 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,828 advanced while 2,791 declined, indicating that while the indices rose, the sell-off was more widespread in the broader market.

TAGS: Post-Market, Stock Market, Nifty, Sensex, Market Analysis

Tags: Post-Market Stock Market Nifty Sensex Market Analysis**