Mumbai — Jan 5, 2026 — 2:03 AM ET
- Nifty 50 tagged a record 26,358.25, then slipped back near 26,321; Sensex hovered around 85,665 in mid-session trade. 1
- Nifty IT dropped about 2.5%, with HCLTech off ~3.3% and Tech Mahindra down ~2% after a CLSA downgrade. 1
- Rupee traded near 90.2425/$ as dollar demand clustered around the RBI reference-rate fix. 2
Nifty tagged a record.
India stock market today pushed the Nifty 50 up to 26,358.25 (+0.11% intraday) before sellers knocked it back toward 26,321 (down 0.02%), while the Sensex hovered around 85,665 (down 0.07%) in mid-session trade. 1
That’s a tell.
At fresh highs, traders wanted a clean breakout, but IT selling and tariff headlines out of Washington—Trump threatened higher duties tied to India’s Russian oil purchases—kept risk appetite tight. 1
IT did the damage.
Nifty IT sank about 2.5%, with HCLTech down roughly 3.3% and Tech Mahindra off about 2% after CLSA cut ratings and flagged a lack of turnaround signals. 1
Banks kept it alive.
State-owned lenders led the counterpunch—Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda added about 0.9%—and twelve of the 16 major sectors stayed in the green even with tech dragging. 1
Single stocks still ran.
Sobha jumped about 4% on a strong sales update and CSB Bank ripped about 7.6% to a record high on deposit growth, while BEL, SBI and Reliance sat among the day’s leaders. 1
Breadth stayed weird.
Smallcaps held a slight edge while midcaps lagged, and that split kept traders hunting pockets of strength instead of chasing the whole tape. 1
FX added friction.
The rupee traded around 90.2425 per dollar as demand stayed heavy at the RBI’s reference-rate fix, a macro headwind that traders keep pricing into rate-sensitives and import-heavy names. 2
Bears smell a trap.
The U.S. already runs a 50% tariff on India and more would hit sentiment, and with IT earnings starting next week the market has zero patience for any wobble in U.S.-linked revenue. 1
26,000 is the tripwire.
Options positioning shows strong support around 26,000 (heavy put interest) and overhead supply near 26,500 (top call open interest), so traders have a tight map for the rest of the session. 3
Next catalyst: PMI prints.
Dalal Street gets the final HSBC Services PMI and Composite PMI readings next, with FY GDP growth data also on deck as earnings season ramps. 4
