Sensex and Nifty extended their losses on January 27 owing to global cue, tepid corporate earnings, lingering uncertainty around U.S. trade policy, and ongoing foreign outflows. The Indian market faced pressure from declines in the banking and IT sectors, while FMCG saw modest gains.
At 10:45 am, the Sensex was down 750 points or 0.98 percent at 75,447, and the Nifty was down 227 points or 0.98 percent at 22,865. About 550 shares advanced, 2,695 shares declined, and 155 shares remained unchanged. In the broader market, the selloff was even more pronounced with BSE Midcap shedding 3 percent, and the Smallcap index tumbling over 4 percent
U.S. stock futures and most Asian markets took a hit on as investors digested the implications of Chinese startup DeepSeek's launch of a free, open-source AI model is poised to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed retaliatory levies and sanctions on Colombia for blocking military aircraft carrying deported migrants.
Nasdaq Composite futures slid almost 2 percent, while S&P 500 futures dropped 1 percent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.3 percent, erasing earlier gains, while New Zealand's benchmark fell 0.6 percent. In contrast, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.9 percent, and mainland China's blue-chip CSI 300 rose 0.2 percent, shrugging off data revealing an unexpected contraction in manufacturing this month.
"Typically, one might expect a pre-budget rally, but that hasn't materialised. Any market upside is being used by investors to book profits or exit positions. As a result, this week also appears weak," said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst told Moneycontrol.
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India's benchmark indices wrapped up the previous week with their third straight weekly loss. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been net sellers, pulling out a staggering Rs 69,080 crore from Indian equities in January alone.
Earnings season is proving to be a key driver of market sentiment. "Results so far have been mixed, leaning slightly negative, with many companies disappointing expectations. Additionally, uncertainty around the trajectory of U.S.-India relations under Trump's presidency is adding to investor anxiety. While some announcements have been made, Trump's unpredictability could spark further volatility," Baliga said.
With just five trading sessions left before the Union Budget on February 1, all eyes are also on the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision scheduled for January 29. While the Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady, investors are keenly awaiting its commentary—especially in light of President Trump's push for lower borrowing costs—to get a sense of future monetary policy direction.
Among stock-specific highlights, ICICI Bank, bucking the trend and rose 0.6 percent after reporting higher after the private lender posted higher quarterly profits, supported by robust loan growth, even as lending margins faced some pressure.
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Bharat Electronics, JSW Steel, BPCL, IndusInd Bank, and Power Grid Corp led the laggards on the Nifty 50, slipping 1-2 percent. On the brighter side, Britannia, HUL, ITC, ICICI Bank, and Nestle emerged as top gainers, climbing 0.5-2 percent.
Shares of CreditAccess Grameen plunged 17 percent after the company revised its full-year guidance downward once again. It now anticipates loan growth of 7-8 percenr for the financial year, a reduction from the 8-12 percent projection provided at the end of the September quarter.
"With a bearish technical setup and lower highs/lows on daily charts, Nifty is at risk of closing below the key 23,000 level, with next support at 21,281," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities.
Meanwhile, in the IPO arena, all eyes are on CLN Energy as it gears up to wrap up its subscription on January 27.
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