Indian stocks witnessed heavy losses during Tuesday’s session, January 20, as the resurfacing of global trade tensions and mixed earnings from the large-cap segment gripped the markets, causing key averages to remain lower for the second straight day.
Further, heightened geopolitical tensions, persistent foreign investor selling, and continued weakness in the rupee impacted market sentiment, pushing the Nifty 50 down another 1.4% to settle at 25,225, marking its lowest level in four months.
The S&P BSE Sensex also finished at the day’s low of 82,054, down 1.43% from the previous close. The broader markets suffered even larger declines, with the Nifty Midcap 100 plunging 2.62% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index tumbling 2.85%.
All major sectoral indices closed in the red, with Nifty Realty facing the largest fall of 5%, followed by Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Chemicals, each down 2.7%. Other sectors, including Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Media, Nifty Oil & Gas, and Nifty FMCG, fell between 1.5% and 2.5%.
The first batch of December-quarter results from Nifty 50 companies appeared muted, as bottom-line performance was impacted by labour code-related expenses. This also seemed to weigh on foreign portfolio investors’ sentiment, as they offloaded another ₹3,262 crore during Monday’s session, taking month-to-date outflows to ₹27,000 crore, according to NSDL data.
In Europe, tensions heated as recent media reports suggested that Denmark is increasing its military presence in Greenland, while US President Donald Trump refused to rule out using force to secure control of the island.
This follows Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10% import tariff on eight European countries starting February 1, rising to 25% in June unless a deal is reached to acquire Greenland, reigniting trade worries.
Broad-based sell-off hits over 100 Nifty 500 stocks, losses extend up to 14%
According to Trendlyne data, over 100 constituents of the Nifty 500 finished the session with losses of more than 3%, led by Newgen Software Technologies, which crashed 14% to ₹631 apiece, marking its lowest level since November 2023, as investors appeared disappointed with the company’s December-quarter performance.
It was followed by Data Patterns, which cracked 9.2% to ₹2,256 apiece. Ola Electric shares also witnessed intense selling pressure, falling 9% to ₹32.6 apiece and extending losses to a tenth consecutive session. The sharp decline came after the company announced the exit of its CFO, Harish Abichandani, citing personal reasons.
Real estate stocks such as Sobha, Oberoi Realty, Aditya Birla Real Estate, Lodha Developers, Godrej Properties, and Prestige Estates Properties fell over 5% each during the session.
Meanwhile, Havells India shares tumbled 7.45%, registering their biggest single-day fall in recent months following the December-quarter results. Although the company reported a healthy set of numbers, management’s cautious outlook due to commodity inflation dented investor sentiment, as higher input costs could pressure margins going ahead.
Other stocks in the cables and wires segment, including KEI Industries and Polycab India, also came under pressure, falling 5.7% and 4.6%, respectively. Other key stocks such as HBL Engineering, LTIMindtree, Tejas Networks, Netweb Technologies, CDSL, Vodafone Idea, YES Bank, and Reliance Infrastructure declined between 5% and 7%.
Deepak Nitrite, Jindal Saw lead limited gains amid broader sell-off
In a broad-based sell-off, a handful of stocks managed to close higher, led by Deepak Nitrite, which gained 4.6%. It was followed by Jindal Saw, which advanced 4.2% to ₹186.80 apiece, extending its winning streak to a second straight session.
Meanwhile, the record-breaking rally in silver prices continued to support Hindustan Zinc, with the stock closing 3% higher at ₹680 apiece.
Other stocks such as Sun TV Network, V-Guard Industries, Honeywell Automation India, Indegene, Dalmia Bharat and JK Cement also ended the session in the green, rising between 1% and 2%.
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