The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,750 mark. Auto stocks witnessed selling pressure for the fifth consecutive trading session.
At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 121.89 points or 0.15% to 83,698.13. The Nifty 50 index shed 61.25 points or 0.24% to 25,721.85.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.37% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.32%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 2,020 shares rose and 1,888 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.46% to 11.42. The Nifty 27 January 2026 futures were trading at 25,782.50, at a premium of 60.65 points as compared with the spot at 25,721.85.
The Nifty option chain for the 27 January 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 84.9 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 55.1 lakh contracts was seen at the 26,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index shed 0.73% to 27,806.05. The index fell 3.86% in the five consecutive trading sessions.
Tube Investments of India (down 1.74%), Exide Industries (down 1.44%), Uno Minda (down 1.21%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.12%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.04%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.03%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (down 0.87%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.57%), and Ashok Leyland (down 0.27%) fell.
On the other hand, Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.53%), Bharat Forge (up 0.17%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.14%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Maharashtra Scooters rallied 4.14% after the company reported a 24.84% surge in standalone net profit to Rs 4.12 crore on an 11.22% rise in total income to Rs 6.44 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.
NLC India advanced 1.15% after the company’s board approved the listing of its wholly owned subsidiary, NLC India Renewables (NIRL), in line with the Government of India’s National Monetisation Pipeline targets.