Bengaluru, Jan 7, 2026, 14:04 (IST)
Maruti Suzuki’s share price slid more than 3% on Wednesday, dropping below a technical “support” level — a price line where buyers often step in. The stock was trading at 16,773 rupees at 1:26 p.m. IST, down 3.01% on the day, with its price-to-earnings ratio at 35.94 and earnings per share at 470.08 rupees, the Economic Times liveblog showed. 1
The pullback came as Indian equities drifted lower, with the Nifty 50 down 0.26% and the Sensex off 0.23% by 9:45 a.m. IST, retreating from near-record levels as geopolitical tensions and U.S. tariff threats weighed on sentiment. “Near-term sentiment remains cautious,” said Hitesh Tailor, a research analyst at Choice Equity Broking, pointing to sensitivity around trade risks and crude oil swings ahead of the earnings season starting next week. 2
Maruti’s drop followed a sharp start to the year that left the stock near fresh highs. It ended Tuesday at 17,294.95 rupees, just 0.44% below a 52-week high of 17,371.60 set on Monday, while outperforming some auto peers including Ashok Leyland and Atul Auto, MarketWatch data showed. 3
The company’s long arc has made it a proxy for India’s mass-market car demand. Maruti began as an early-1970s push for a cheap “people’s car” tied to Sanjay Gandhi, and its early years were marked by financial strain, political controversy and false starts, India Today wrote in a 50th-anniversary feature updated this week. 4
In the energy sector, Phillips 66 said it had agreed to acquire the assets and infrastructure of the shuttered Lindsey Oil Refinery in northern England and fold key facilities into its Humber Refinery, rather than restarting Lindsey as a standalone plant. Britain’s energy minister Michael Shanks said the deal would “boost domestic energy security,” while Unite’s Sharon Graham warned against turning the site into a “glorified storage tank.” 5
Phillips 66 UK lead executive Paul Fursey said the deal “marks an important step” in investing in Britain’s energy security, and the company said the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances. The company said it decided Lindsey was not viable in its current form and would instead use the assets to support supply from the Humber site. 6
UBS analyst Manav Gupta reiterated a buy rating on Phillips 66 with a $160 price target after the announcement, while Mizuho kept a neutral rating with a $150 target and BMO Capital maintained an outperform rating with a $159 target, Investing.com reported. 7
