Sensex, Nifty Today: In early trade, market breadth was negative, with 936 stocks advancing against 1,636 stocks declining on the NSE. 109 stocks remained unchanged.
Indian equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty, opened in the red on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, amid weak global cues, as a global sell-off was triggered by renewed trade-war concerns after President Trump escalated tariff threats against select European nations opposing US control over Greenland. While the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 385.82 points to start the session at 81,794.65, the Nifty fell 91.5 points to open at 25,141. In the last trading session, the Sensex closed at 82,180.47 and the Nifty 50 at 25,232.50. Similarly, the broader indices traded in the red in the opening session. While the BSE Midcap dropped 66.04 points, or 0.15 per cent, in the early trading session, the BSE Smallcap index was down by 235.69 points or 0.49 per cent, to trade at 47,483.38.
From the Sensex pack, Eternal, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, and ITC were among the major gainers, with Eternal leading the pack by gaining 1.89 per cent in the early trade. On the other hand, ICIC Bank, HCL Tech, BEL, TCS and Infosys were among the losers with ICICI Bank shedding 0.73 per cent in the opening trade.
“As long as the market trades below 25,500/82900, weak sentiment is likely to persist. On the downside, the market could slide to 25,100-25,000/81800-81500. On the other hand, a pullback could take the market to 25,350-25,400/82400-82600,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.
What did Gift Nifty indicate?
Gift Nifty, an early indicator for the Nifty 50, indicated a negative start as it opened with a dip of 37 points at 25,218, compared to the previous close of 25,255.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,938.33 crore on January 20, 2026, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) extended their buying streak with net purchases of Rs 3,665.69 crore.
Asian Markets Today
Asian stocks slipped in today’s session after Wall Street tumbled by more than 2 per cent overnight, and the US dollar posted its biggest decline in over a month. While Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down by 350.10 points or 0.66 per cent to trade at 350.10, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 24.51 points. Similarly, South Korea’s Kospi traded in the red, down 22.02 points. However, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index was up by 6.45 points or 0.16 per cent.
(This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, or other advice.)
