It was a volatile session on the D-Street. The domestic key equity indices ended Wednesday’s session on a lower note. The NSE Nifty 50 declined 52.60 points or 0.22% to settle at 23,686.65, while the BSE Sensex fell 320 points or 0.41% to end the day at 78,263.67. 

The Nifty FMCG, Realty, and Consumer Durables traded in the negative. The Nifty FMCG closed the session at 1.56%, Realty at 1.85%, and Consumer Durables at 1.05% lower. 

However, the banking index, Nifty Bank closed the session 185 points or 0.37% at 50,343.05. The broader indices closed the counter higher on Wednesday, the Nifty Midcap 100 closed the session 367 points, or 0.68%, higher at 54,180.85.  

In the broader markets, small- and mid-cap stocks closed the day on a positive note. The volatility index India VIX surged 0.46% to 14.08 level. 

ITC Hotels (3%) was the top gainer in the Nifty 50, followed by ONGC (2.91%), Hindalco (2.88%), Apollo Hospitals (2.40%), and BPCL (2.07%). Meanwhile, Asian Paints and Titan were the apex losers in the Nifty 50, while the other three positions of 5 major losers were held by the FMCG stocks: Nestle India, Britannia, and Tata Consumer Products.

“Investors are weighing the improved domestic outlook, buoyed by a favourable budget, against lingering global uncertainties stemming from the tariff war. While declining U.S. bond yields and lower crude oil prices have supported market sentiment, the rupee’s depreciation could offset these gains. Rate-sensitive sectors are attracting attention ahead of a potential RBI rate cut,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

On the technical front, Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan said, “Nifty is consolidating around the 22,650–22700 zone where resistance in the form of the 40-week average (23,685) is placed. We believe that this is a brief pause in the overall upmove and dips towards the support zone 23,600–23575 should be considered as a buying opportunity. On the upside, the immediate hurdle is placed at 24,150.”

Apart from that, the markets will be focusing on the three-day RBI MPC meet, which started today on February 05. “RBI is likely to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points for the first time in almost five years after the domestic rate-setting panel has kept the policy repo rate unchanged for the last 11 consecutive meetings after raising it by 250 bps between May 2022 and February 2023,” said Bajaj Broking Research.

Also, in the international market gold rate today surged to a lifetime high of $2,877 per ounce, supported by the depreciation in the greenback and buying in the yellow metal. “The greenback fell below the 108 level, following China’s tit-for-tat response to US tariffs, said Kaynat Chainwala, Assistant Vice President of Commodity Research at Kotak Securities. “Today, Gold reached fresh all-time highs of $2,886 per ounce as fears of US-China trade war may boost safe-haven buying. Investors now cautiously await US Private payrolls and Services PMI for further cues on economic activity in January.”