As the nation gears up for the Economic Survey and the Union Budget 2025-26, domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Friday, with optimism in the air as investors looked for potential catalysts from the upcoming announcements.
The Sensex rose by 184 points or 0.24% to reach 76,935 around 9:31 a.m., while the Nifty gained 74 points or 0.32% to trade at 23,323 in early hours.
Despite foreign institutional investors (FIIs) unwinding long positions, both Sensex and Nifty have maintained a three-day winning streak this week.
Key gainers on the Nifty 50 index included Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, Titan, Tata Consumer Products, and Maruti Suzuki India. Meanwhile, stocks such as Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, NTPC, and Coal India dragged the index lower.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), six sectors advanced while six declined. The NSE Nifty Metal sector saw the largest dip, while the NSE Nifty IT sector registered the highest gains.
The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up by 0.31% and 0.30%, respectively.
Market watchers anticipate heightened volatility as the Union Budget announcements approach, with key sectors such as railways, infrastructure, fertilizers, textiles, and electric vehicles (EV) expected to be in focus.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, noted Nifty’s volatile trading on Thursday. “There was a slump post-noon, but recovery came in the final hour. Notably, December’s closing was at 23,644. If the index doesn’t close above this level today, it will mark the first four-month consecutive decline since September 2001,” he said.
FIIs continued to be net sellers on January 30, offloading equities worth ₹4,582.95 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth ₹2,165.89 crore.
Hardik Matalia of Choice Broking advised traders to exercise caution amid the expected market turbulence, recommending strict stop-loss strategies and avoiding overnight positions.
The Economic Survey, prepared under the supervision of Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran, provides key insights into the country’s economy. The Union Budget for 2025-26 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.
(Inputs from IANS)