Equity

Mid Session Commentary

Nifty trades above 24,850; European mrkt decline
(02-Feb-2026, 13:40 Hours IST)  
The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with modest cuts in early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark. Oil & gas, realty and FMCG shares advanced, while media, healthcare, and IT shares declined.

At 1:35 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 296.76 points or 0.37% to 81,019.70. The Nifty 50 index rose 65.70 points or 0.26% to 24,891.15.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE 150 Mid-Cap index fell 0.62% and the S&P BSE 250 Small-Cap index shed 1.15%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,279 shares rose and 2,825 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's manufacturing activity recovered in January after losing momentum in December, though business confidence weakened. The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 55.4 in January from a two-year low of 55.0 in December, remaining well above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction.

Politics:

Sunetra Pawar was sworn in Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister on 31 January 2026, days after her husband Ajit Pawar's fatal plane crash on January 28 near Baramati Airport.

A former Rajya Sabha MP and social activist from Baramati, Sunetra Pawar took oath at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai and said she would carry forward Ajit Pawar's legacy of public service, focusing on social equality, women and youth empowerment, rural upliftment, and administrative reform.

She will work alongside Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, strengthening the Mahayuti alliance.

Sunetra Pawar is expected to handle portfolios such as Excise, Sports, and Youth Welfare and Minorities Development, with the Finance portfolio temporarily retained by the chief minister.

Gainers & Losers:

Power Grid Corporation of India (up 4.34%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (up 4%), Tata Consumer ProductS (up 3.33%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 3.09%) and Reliance Industries (up 2.15%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.

Shriram Finance (down 5.66%), Max Healthcare Institute (down 2.86%), Cipla (down 2.53%), Axis Bank (down 2.17%) and Infosys (down 1.98%) were the major Nifty50 losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Atul Auto soared 6.87% after the company reported a 30.09% rise in total sales to 3,606 units in January 2026 as against 2,772 units sold in January 2025.

Gokaldas Exports dropped 6.86% after the company reported 70.97% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 14.61 crore in Q3 FY26 from Rs 50.34 crore in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations shed 0.92% year-over-year (YoY) to Rs 978.65 crore during the quarter.

Maruti Suzuki India shed 0.01%. The company reported total sales of 236,963 units in January 2026, registering an 11.6% YoY growth compared with 212,251 units sold in January 2025.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones index futures are currently down by 394 points, signaling a weak opening for US stocks today.

European equities traded lower on Monday as a sell-off in precious metals dented investor sentiment at the start of a data-heavy week marked by key corporate earnings, central bank meetings, and macroeconomic releases.

Data released earlier showed that German retail sales edged up 0.1% month-on-month in December, improving from a 0.5% decline recorded in the previous month.

Asian equities slipped as investors digested fresh private data on China's factory activity for January, while gold continued to slide after last week's drop.

China's manufacturing momentum picked up pace in January, a private survey released on Monday showed, with producers ramping up output and shipping goods ahead of the long Lunar New Year break.

The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI, compiled by S&P Global, edged up to 50.3 in January from 50.1 in December. Since readings above 50 signal expansion and those below indicate contraction, the latest print points to a modest improvement. It was also the strongest showing since October, when the index stood at 50.6.

Over in the US, stocks ended lower on Friday as technology shares stayed under pressure, even as markets broadly welcomed President Donald Trump's choice of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. Despite the late-month wobble and choppy trading through January, the S&P 500 still managed to close the month in positive territory. On Friday, the index slipped 0.43% for its third straight decline, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.36%, and the Nasdaq Composite lagged with a sharper 0.94% drop.

Warsh's nomination helped calm nerves around the Fed's independence, given his past experience as a central bank governor and his firm views on inflation. While he is expected to favour lower interest rates in the near term, in line with Trump's preferences, markets see him as someone likely to retain policy credibility rather than simply take cues from the White House.

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