Markets close today: Indian equity markets ended the session on a firm note on January 29, with benchmark indices closing higher. The Sensex settled up 222 points, or 0.27%, at 82,566, while the Nifty added nearly 74 points, or 0.29%, to close at 25,416.
Markets at 3 PM: Indian equity markets were trading higher in the afternoon session at around 3 pm, with benchmark indices holding on to modest gains. The Sensex rose 311 points, or 0.38%, to trade at 82,656, while the Nifty was up 92 points, or 0.36%, at 25,435.
Markets at 1 PM: The domestic indices have recovered the day’s loss after the economic survey. The Nifty 50 was trading flat at 25,350, while the Sensex cut losses to trade at 82,385. The banking stocks were on a roll. The Nifty Bank outperformed benchmarks, rising roughly 250 points or 0.42% at 59,847.
Markets at 12.30 PM: The domestic equity indexes pared losses as the Union Finance Minister tabled economic survey 2025-26. The Nifty 50 was trading 45 points or 0.18% lower at 25,298. On the other hand, the BSE Sensex pared 158 points to trade at 118 points or 0.14% lower at 82,226.
Markets at 11.30 AM: Indian indices have recovered slightly from the day’s lows. The Nifty 50 was down 81 points or 0.32% to 25,260, while the Sensex traded 288 points or 0.36% at 82,044.
Markets at 10.30 AM: The domestic indices slipped in early trade hours. The Nifty 50 was down 126 points or 0.50% to trade at 25,216, while the BSE Sensex dropped 451 points or 0.55% to trade at 81,893.
The mid and smallcap has been affected the most. The Nifty Midcap 100, which was trading in the green, fell 300 points or 0.51% to trade at 58,140.
Markets at open: Indian equity indices opened Thursday’s trade on a muted note, with a negative bias. The Nifty 50 opened 19 points or 0.07% lower at 25,324, while the BSE Sensex opened 26 points or 0.03% lower at 82,319.
The Nifty Bank opened 137 points or 0.23% lower at 59,462, while the Nifty Midcap surged 137 points or 0.24% higher at 58,576.
“It is important to note that there is no change in the short to medium-term strategy of FIIs, which is ‘sell India’ and move the money to other performing markets. Therefore, unless there is some big announcement in the Budget nudging FIIs to return to India, they will continue to sell in India, thereby dragging the market down,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
Markets ahead of opening: The global markets are trading on a mixed note post the US Federal Reserve kept the key lending rates unchanged. The GIFT Nifty is trading 25 points, or 0.10%, lower at 25,402. Here are domestic as well as key global cues to watch before the market opens that include crude oil prices, FII and DII data, business groups that most affect, sectoral performance, etc.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 closed the session 167 points or 0.66% higher at 25,343, while the BSE Sensex rose 487 points or 0.60% to close at 82,345.
Key global and domestic cues for markets on January 29, 2025
Asian Markets
The Asian markets on Thursday morning opened on a mixed note after the US Federal Reserve kept the key benchmark rates unchanged. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.18%, while the Topix lost 0.57%. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.09%, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 2.69%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 27,565, lower than the HSI’s last close of 27,826.91.
US markets
The US benchmarks closed Wednesday’s trade on a mixed note following the Fed’s rate decision. The S&P 500 reached a milestone level, hitting 7,000 for the first time, before pulling back as the US Fed left interest rates unchanged. The index ended the day down 0.01% at 6,978.03. Earlier, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% on the day, hitting an all-time intraday high of 7,002.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.02% to close at 49,015.60. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed and gained 0.17%, settling at 23,857.45.
US Fed keeps rates unchanged
The Federal Reserve kept its overnight lending rate steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The economic activity has been “expanding at a solid pace” as suggested by available indicators, according to the Federal Open Market Committee’s post-meeting statement. Policymakers also noted that the unemployment rate has shown some signs of stabilisation.
Economic Policy
The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey for FY26 in the Parliament at 11 AM. The document prepared by the Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs is the report card of the Government’s financial performance. For 2025-26, the economy is expected to grow 7.4% (as per First Advance Estimates of GDP), higher than the 6.3–6.8% growth projected in the pre-Budget Survey. For 2024-25, economic growth stood at 6.5%, broadly in line with the Survey’s projection of 6.5–7%.
Crude oil
The crude oil prices traded on a higher note on Thursday morning. WTI crude prices were trading at $63.66, up 0.70%, while Brent crude prices were trading at $68.79, a rise of 0.56%.
US dollar
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was trading 0.04% lower at 96.30 on Thursday morning. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar in comparison to major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, etc. The rupee depreciated 0.05% to close at 91.78 to the dollar on January 28.
FII, DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) were the net buyers of shares worth Rs 480.26 crore. On the other hand, the Domestic institutional investors (DII) were the net buyers of shares worth Rs 3,360.59 crore on January 27, 2025, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
Gold rate today
The rate for 24-carat gold today is Rs 1,66,900 per 10 grams, near its all-time high. The price of gold has jumped by 5.52% from yesterday. The 24 kt gold rate today in Delhi is Rs 1,66,620 per 10 grams. The 18-carat gold price today in India is Rs 1,25,175. The 24-carat gold rate in Dubai today is Rs 1,02,210.73.
Top sectors in Wednesday’s trade
The defence sector’s stocks surged the most in Wednesday’s trade, increasing 7.57% in market capitalisation. Further, aquaculture stocks were followed by the shipping sector stocks, which were further followed by the space sector stocks. However, the tea and coffee sector stocks fell the most.
Best and worst performing business groups
The Pennar Group’s market cap rose the most in yesterday’s session, rising 7%. It was followed by the Jaypee Group. Apart from that, Essel Group’s market capitalisation rose the most, increasing 5.46%. In the list of Essel Group stocks, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ share rallied 5.97%.