The Indian stock market experienced a downturn today, January 29, 2026, with both the Sensex and Nifty indices opening lower and remaining in negative territory. The S&P BSE Sensex was down by 275 points to 82069.68, while the NSE Nifty50 lost 48 points to 25294.75.

Market Performance

The Sensex fell 313 points and the Nifty was below 25,250. After opening higher, the Nifty slipped below the 25,300 mark, and the Sensex dropped nearly 200 points in the initial minutes of trading. At 9:17 am, the BSE Sensex slipped 220.81 points, or 0.27%, to 82,123.87 after falling nearly 313 points in early trade, while the NSE Nifty was down 55.90 points, or 0.22%, to 25,286.85, after briefly touching a low of 25,248.55.

Broader market indices showed a positive trend, with the NSE Midcap 150 trading 0.12% higher and the NSE Smallcap up by 0.21%.

Sectoral Performance and Key Stocks

IT and bank shares were among the major contributors to the market's decline. Within the Sensex, Maruti Suzuki India declined 2.55% to Rs 14497, Asian Paints slipped 1.72%, while Titan, IndiGo and Hindustan Unilever fell 1.54%, 1.24% and 1.15%, respectively.

Global Cues and Economic Factors

The domestic equity benchmarks opened lower following mixed cues from global markets. Asian markets were trading lower, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 0.46%, South Korea's KOSPI Index falling 0.58%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 down 0.8%.

Investors are also awaiting the Economic Survey 2025–26, which is scheduled to be presented in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The survey is expected to provide key signals on capital expenditure, fiscal consolidation, and policy direction for various sectors, potentially shaping market sentiment ahead of the Union Budget on February 1.

Additional Factors

Persistent Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) outflows and pre-Budget positioning are also influencing market sentiment. The rupee fell to an all-time low. Overnight, the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady in the range of 3.5 per cent to 3.75 per cent.

Analyst View

According to analysts, the recent rally in the Nifty might be attributed to short covering by bears cautious about carrying large short positions into the Budget. However, they also noted that the short to medium-term strategy of FIIs remains "sell India," with funds being redirected to other markets. Unless the Budget includes significant announcements that encourage FIIs to reinvest in India, this selling trend is expected to continue.