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Informist, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Nifty 50 moves in range; Eternal, ICICI Bank top drags

 

MUMBAI--1025 IST--Benchmark indices moved in a range Friday, and volatility persisted in the Indian equity market. A steep fall in index heavyweights offset gains made by several information technology and metal companies, leading to the Nifty 50 being largely flat. The 50-stock index has moved in a range of around 100 points since the market opened.

 

At 1020 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25261.65 points, down 28.25 points or 0.1%. The BSE Sensex was at 821581.14 points, down 0.2%. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories extended its gains for the second straight session and was up over 2%. The pharmaceutical major has gained over 3?ter it released its December quarter results, which showed that consolidated net profit and revenue of the company surpassed Street expectations. Further, the company's management said the growth seen in the Indian market is sustainable in the coming quarters. Shares of Eternal were the worst hit in the session and were down almost 3%. The stock has fallen for the second consecutive session after releasing its December quarter earnings. Index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, and ICICI Bank were down marginally, exerting pressure on the Nifty 50.

 

Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel extended their gains and were up 2% and 1%, respectively. Other metal stocks such as Vedanta, Hindustan Copper, and Hindustan Zinc were up 3–5%, supporting the 1.5% rise in the Nifty Metal index. Hindustan Zinc advanced over 5?ter futures contracts of silver hit fresh all-time highs on the Multi Commodity Exchange, tracking contracts on COMEX. Prices rose to a new record high, with the COMEX silver contract nearing $100 per ounce and the gold contract nearing $5,000 per ounce. Safe-haven demand for the metal continued to surge due to uncertainty surrounding the Greenland issue despite US President Trump's statements about potentially working towards a future deal. Details of the "framework" of the deal have been hazy, and European officials on Thursday appeared to be willing to talk about it only in vague terms, Dow Jones reported.

 

Broader market indices mirrored their benchmark peers and were flat to marginally lower. Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC was the best performing small-cap stock and was up over 3%, while Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail was hit the hardest and was down 1.5%.  (Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Indices move between gains, losses; metal, IT cos early gainers

 

MUMBAI--0945 IST--Equity indices opened slightly higher Friday and moved between gains and losses amid volatile early trade. Select index heavyweights, metal, and information technology companies' stocks lent support to the Nifty 50. The market's fear gauge, the India VIX, was up 3% in early trade, in line with technical analysts' expectations.

 

At 0943 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25300.05 points, up 10.15 points. The BSE Sensex was at 82297.21 points, down 10.16 points. Interglobe Aviation was the worst hit among Nify 50 constituents, down 2%. The company reported a 75% on year slump in its net profit for the December quarter. Shares of Power Grid Corp. of India and SBI Life Insurance Co. were down around 1?ch. Meanwhile, shares of IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra were up around 1?ch. Dr. Reddy's shares were up over 1%, and it was the best performing Nifty 50 stock.

 

Heavyweight HDFC Bank traded higher, supporting the 50-stock index, while a 0.5?ll in ICICI Bank was the biggest drag on the Nifty 50. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal was the best performing, and was up over 1%, buoyed by a 1.3% gain in Hindalco Industries and a 4% rise in Hindustan Zinc. Nifty Media was the worst hit among sectoral indices and was down 1%.

 

Among other stocks, Premier Energies was down 4?ter the solar equipment manufacturer's revenue and net profit growth surged year on year, but its top line fell short of Street's estimates. On the other hand, shares of Home First Finance Co. India were up over 5% after the company's net profit for the December quarter jumped 44% on year to INR 1.4 billion. Revenue from operations for the quarter rose 18.8% to INR 4.82 billion.  (Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen rangebound; volatility to continue in near term 

 

MUMBAI--0840 IST--Benchmark equity indices are likely to trade in a range Friday after they snapped a three-day fall Thursday. Analysts expect traders to sell on rise and see volatility in the indices continuing in the near term. Investors will keenly watch out for the December quarter earnings of Nifty 50 constituents Cipla, JSW Steel, and Shriram Finance, scheduled later in the day. The Union Budget for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) is seen as the next trigger that will drive a major market movement, analysts said.

 

The GIFT Nifty contracts suggest the Nifty 50 index will be rangebound on Friday. At 0837 IST, the GIFT Nifty's January contract was at 25344.50 points, around 55 points higher than the Nifty 50's close of 25289.90 points on Thursday. The BSE Sensex closed at 82307.37 points, up 397.74 points or 0.5%. The indices had gained on optimism after US President Donald Trump ruled out seizing Greenland through military. Trump also struck a positive tone regarding India-US trade deal in an exclusive to Moneycontrol. Analysts see the Nifty 50 facing resistance at 25500 and support at 25100–24900.

 

Shares of Nifty 50 constituent InterGlobe Aviation, which announced its December quarter results Thursday will be in focus. The bottom line of the company for the reporting quarter missed analysts' expectations and it reported an over 75% on-year fall to INR 6.25 billion. Thursday, shares of the company ended over 1% higher at INR 4,909 on the National Stock Exchange.

 

US indices closed higher for the second session Thursday as Trump said his initiative, the 'Board of Peace', which was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is going to play a vital role in ensuring peace in the world, beginning with Gaza. Most Asian indices were higher in the early trade, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gaining the most. Indonesia's IDX Composite was the only index that was down among the Asian indices.  (Arundathi A R)

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Equity Alert: Asia mkts higher for 2nd session tracking gains on Wall Street

 

MUMBAI--0825 IST--Equity indices in Asia were largely higher, tracking gains on Wall Street due to optimism after US President Donald Trump said he wouldn't be imposing tariffs on eight European countries. Investors in the region will now await Bank of Japan's policy meeting, which is expected to keep rates unchanged. 

 

The regional indices were higher for a second session after Trump said he wouldn't be imposing tariffs on eight European countries over his ambition to acquire Greenland. The US leader also said he wouldn't acquire the Arctic island by force. In Japan, the central bank will meet and is expected to keep policy rates unchanged at 0.75%, as per a poll of economists by Reuters, CNBC reported. HSBC expects the central bank to raise policy rates by 25 basis points in July 2026 but believes that further depreciation in the yen could compel the bank to raise policy rates sooner, with April as a possible alternative, CNBC said. The central bank is stuck between the need to control the 'yen bears' with hawkish commentary while not triggering any further rises in bond yields due to expectations of heavy spending by Sanae Takaichi's administration, Reuters said. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will likely offer clues about when the central bank's next rate hike might be, which is complicated by the country's prime minister's decision to call snap elections. 

 

South Korea's KOSPI was up for a third session after markets crossed the 5,000 mark for the first time on Thursday. This was a milestone that South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung had promised would be attained through market reforms and tax measures to close the "Korea discount", Reuters said. Shares of technology companies in the region were lower after US-based tech giant Intel's forecasts for its revenue and profit for the quarter were below market expectations. The company faced difficulty satisfying demand for server chips used in artifical intelligence data centres. The company, however, beat market expectations for its fourth quarter earnings, but the soft guidance for the current quarter soured expectations.  

 

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0823 IST:

 

INDEX	LEVEL	CHANGE IN %
CSI 300 Index	4704.67	(-)0.40
Hang Seng Index	26745.07	0.43
KOSPI	4994.22	0.84
Nikkei 225 Day	53870.35	0.34
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3638.01	0.60
FTSE Singapore Straits Times	4878.40	1.04
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8877.80	0.33

 

(Akshat Saksena)

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Equity Alert: US indices end up 2nd straight day on optimism over US-Europe

 

MUMBAI--0745 IST--US equity indices ended higher for the second consecutive session after jitters over a possible trade war between the US and Europe subsided. Data from the US showed that the country's economy grew faster than expected, with economic growth for Jul-Sept revised slightly higher. 

 

Major US equity indices ended higher after surging on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump said he would not impose import tariffs on eight European countries after reaching a framework on a deal over Greenland. Stocks were already rising when Trump earlier said he would not try to acquire the Arctic island by force, CNBC reported. This marked a turnaround from the 'sell America' trade which was seen after threats of tariffs prompted a sell-off in US equities, soaring treasury yields, and the dollar facing pressure. 

 

"A lot of times, the words that come out of the White House, it's all kind of part of the grander negotiation and that there's a certain outcome that's being driven towards, so any of the noise that takes place in the midst of that process playing out more often than not...they turn out to be buying opportunities," Eric Parnell, chief market strategist at Great Valley Advisor Group, was quoted as saying. The analyst also said the underlying fundamentals of the market continue to be strong.

 

Even though sentiment continues to be optimistic, some concerns remain, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen emphasising her country's sovereignty was not negotiable. "The Kingdom of Denmark wishes to continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with allies on how we can strengthen security in the Arctic, including the US's Golden Dome, provided that this is done with respect for our territorial integrity," Frederiksen said. 

 

US GDP growth for Jul-Sept was upwardly revised to 4.4%, its fastest pace since the third quarter of 2023. The economy grew at a pace of 3.8% in the second quarter. "The slight upward revision to growth in the July-September period reflected upgrades to exports and business investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the ‍calculation of GDP, were revised up. Consumer spending and a smaller trade deficit were the key drivers of GDP growth in the third quarter," Reuters reported. Economists polled by Reuters had estimated that GDP would be unrevised at 4.3%. The number of people that applied for unemployment benefits increased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 200,000 for the week ended Jan. 17, Reuters reported, citing a report from the Labour Department. 

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his talks with US President Trump had resulted in security guarantees for Ukraine being finalised. However, the vital issue of territory remains unsolved. The Ukrainian president also said a deal was almost ready for an economic recovery after the war with Russia concluded. In Ukraine, Zelensky has been burdened with an energy crisis due to strikes from Russia, which have left millions in the country without power or heating, Reuters reported. Zelensky has described this as Russia's attempt to freeze the inhabitants of his country to death.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Thursday:  

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6913.35	0.55
NASDAQ Composite	23436.02	0.91
Dow Jones Industrial Average	49384.01	0.63

 

(Akshat Saksena)

 

US$1 = INR 91.61

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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