The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 600 points to the day’s low of 82,953, while the NSE Nifty 50 slid over 150 points, slipping below the 25,550 mark as investors turned cautious at the start of the session.
On the 30-stock Sensex, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were among the biggest drags, with shares falling between 1% and 3%.
Reliance Industries slid 2.6% after the Mukesh Ambani–led conglomerate reported a modest 0.56% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 18,645 crore for the third quarter.
ICICI Bank fell about 3% after India’s second-largest private-sector lender posted an unexpected decline in December-quarter earnings, with consolidated net profit down 4.02% from a year earlier in the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
Broader market gauges were largely steady, with midcap and small-cap stocks trading flat.
Expert views
It’s going to be volatile days ahead in the near-term for stock markets globally with big geopolitical and geoeconomic developments impacting markets, said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, adding that “We don’t know now how President Trump’s disruptive policies are going to impact international trade and global economic growth. How the European nations are going to react to President Trump’s latest Greenland tariffs remains to be seen. If Trump walks his talk and imposes 10% tariffs on the eight European countries on February 1st and follows it up by raising the tariffs to 25% from June 1st onwards, retaliation by the European bloc is almost certain.” “In such a scenario a trade war will breakout impacting global trade and growth. The likely impact of such a development on the market will be negative. It is also likely that Trump chickens out as has happened in the past. Investors can wait and watch for the developments to unfold. Long-term investors can utilise the volatility to selectively buy the dips focusing on high quality largecaps which will eventually weather the storm,” said Vijayakumar.
FII/DII Tracker
On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth a little over Rs 4,346 crore on January 16, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,935 crore.
Global Markets
Asian markets fell on Monday after President Trump threatened fresh tariffs on several European countries, reviving trade-war fears and pushing investors toward safe havens.
U.S. stock-index futures slid in thin holiday trading, with S&P 500 futures down 0.8% and Nasdaq futures off 1.1%. In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 and DAX futures dropped 1.3%, while FTSE futures fell 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei declined 1.4%, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan edged down 0.3%.
Trump said the U.S. would impose an additional 10% tariff from Feb. 1 on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the U.K., rising to 25% by June 1 absent an agreement over U.S. access to Greenland. European officials condemned the threat, with France floating the possibility of unprecedented countermeasures.
Gold rose 1.7% to $4,673 an ounce, while silver gained 3% to $94. Chinese stocks outperformed, with blue chips up 0.4% after data showed fourth-quarter growth slowed to 4.5% but exceeded expectations.
Crude impact
Oil prices were little changed Monday after gains in the prior session, as Iran’s forceful suppression of protests eased concerns that unrest could prompt a U.S. military response and disrupt supplies from the major producer.
Brent crude edged up 5 cents to $64.18 a barrel in early Asian trading. U.S. West Texas Intermediate for February rose 8 cents to $59.52 a barrel ahead of the contract’s expiration on Tuesday, while the more actively traded March contract added 2 cents to $59.36.
Rupee vs Dollar
The Indian rupee strengthened in early trading Monday, gaining 6 paise to 90.72 against the U.S. dollar, as a broader pullback in the greenback offered temporary relief to emerging-market currencies amid the Greenland dispute.
The dollar weakened against major peers and most Asian currencies, with the dollar index slipping to 99.20.
(with inputs from agencies)