Stock markets decline in early trade after 2-day rally

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Thursday (January 29, 2026) after a two-day rally as investors turned cautious ahead of the Union Budget presentation on Sunday (February 1, 2026).

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 343.67 points to 82,001.01 during initial trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 94.2 points to 25,248.55.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Maruti declined nearly 3% after its December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday (January 28) posted 4% increase in consolidated net profit at ₹3,879 crore for the December quarter FY26, hit by one-time provision of ₹594 crore on account of the new Labour Codes.

Asian Paints, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever and Mahindra and Mahindra were also among the laggards.

However, Larsen and Toubro climbed over 3% after its consolidated revenue from operations in the October-December quarter rose by 10% to ₹71,450 crore, over ₹64,668 crore in the year-ago period.

Tata Steel, NTPC, Power Grid and State Bank of India were also among the gainers.

“With the Union Budget due on Sunday, markets are bracing for volatility but downside appears limited; all eyes are on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for pro-growth cues,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers on Wednesday after days of offloading stocks, according to exchange data. They bought stocks worth ₹480.26 crore. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought equities worth ₹3,360.59 crore.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index quoted lower.

U.S. markets ended flat on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.08% to $69.14 per barrel.