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Indian benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and Nifty50, opened higher on Tuesday, driven by mixed global cues
Sensex Today
Sensex Today: On Tuesday, the benchmark equity indices, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50, closed in positive territory. The 30-share Sensex gained 535.24 points, or 0.71%, finishing at 75,901.41. Throughout the day, the index fluctuated between 78,512.96 and 78,622.88.
The NSE Nifty50 also closed higher at 22,957.25, marking an increase of 128.10 points or 0.56%. The index reached a high of 23,137.95 and a low of 22,857.65 during the session.
Of the 50 stocks in the Nifty50, 28 closed in the green, led by strong performances from Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Shriram Finance, Bajaj FinServ, and HDFC Bank, with gains up to 4.32%. On the downside, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Britannia Industries, Bharat Electronics, and Grasim were among the 22 stocks that ended in the red, with losses as high as 4.24%.
In broader market performance, the Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 indices saw declines, dropping 0.51% and 1.81%, respectively.
Banking stocks dominated sectoral indices, with the Nifty Bank, Public Sector Banks (PSB), and Private Bank indices all climbing over 1%. Other sectors showing strong performance included Nifty Realty, which rose by more than 2%, and Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Auto, both of which gained more than 1%.
Global Cues:
In Monday’s trading session, global stocks related to AI and semiconductors faced heavy sell-offs, pulling down indices worldwide. The decline followed the emergence of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s generative AI model as a cost-effective alternative to AI offerings from US tech giants.
This led to significant losses in the tech sector, with AI chipmaker Nvidia seeing a $600 billion drop in market cap—the largest single-day loss in US history—following a 17% plunge in its stock price, which closed at $118.58.
The sell-off was driven by concerns that DeepSeek’s development could pose increased competition to the US-dominated AI space. This pressure contributed to a 3.1% drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq and a 1.46% decline in the S&P 500. In India, the Nifty IT index fell by 3.36% as part of a broader market weakness. However, the Dow Jones ended the session up by 0.65%.
The rise of DeepSeek is expected to keep investors cautious about the AI sector, adding to broader concerns over macroeconomic factors, including the potential impact of the Trump administration’s tariff policies and inflation, which are likely to maintain market uncertainty.
Domestically, ongoing selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) is expected to continue exerting pressure on Indian indices. The market downturn in India deepened on Monday, with key indices reaching their lowest levels since June 6 of the previous year. The selling continued amidst fears of an earnings growth slowdown, coupled with global market volatility, driven by concerns over uncertain US policies and the emergence of DeepSeek.
Asia-Pacific Markets:
In the Asia-Pacific region, markets in Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, and China remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. However, stocks in Hong Kong saw a slight rebound, with the Hang Seng Index up 0.17%. In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped by 0.65%, and the Topix lost 0.41%. Japan’s chip-related stocks extended their losses, with Advantest falling 9.66%, Tokyo Electron down by 4.05%, and Renesas Electronics slipping by 1.54%.
Global Market Trends:
The global sell-off in tech stocks led to a flight to safety, with US Treasury yields hitting multi-week lows as investors sought the security of government bonds. Safe-haven currencies, like the yen and Swiss franc, gained ground, while the US dollar fell against both. The dollar index, measuring the US currency against a basket of others, dropped 0.3%, reaching its lowest level since December 18.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 index remained largely unchanged, but the STOXX Europe 600 technology index suffered a 3% decline, marking its biggest one-day drop since mid-October. The MSCI global stocks index also fell by about 1%.
As concerns over trade policies linger, US import tariffs remain a key topic. President Donald Trump has yet to implement broad trade levies, but China, Mexico, and Canada are facing uncertainty as additional tariffs may be imposed starting February 1.
