Sensex settles 266 pts higher; FMCG shares advance; VIX slides 1.86%

The key equity benchmarks ended with minor gains today, navigating the Union Budget, the IndiaUS trade deal, an Anthropic AIled shock to IT stocks, and the Reserve Bank of Indias repo rate policy.

The Nifty settled above the 25,650 mark. FMCG, consumer durables and private bank shares declined while IT, pharma and auto shares declined

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 266.47 points or 0.32% to 83,580.40. The Nifty 50 index rose 50.90 points or 0.20% to 25,693.70.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.11% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index tanked 0.42%.

 

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,916 shares rose and 2,273 shares fell. A total of 182 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.86% to 11.94.

RBI MPC:

The Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held its first monetary policy review of the calendar year 2026. RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra kept the key policy raterepo rateunchanged at 5.25%. Headline inflation during November and December remained below the tolerance band of the inflation target. The revised outlook for CPI inflation in Q1 and Q2 of next year, at 4% and 4.2%, respectively, is revised slightly upwards, said RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra. The Indian economy continues on a steady, improving trajectory, with real GDP poised to register significant higher growth of 7.4% this year, as compared to the previous year, amidst global headwinds, the governor noted. Going forward, economic activity is expected to hold up well in the next year, he added.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index added 2.24% to 51,896.25. The index declined 0.38% in the previous trading session.

ITC (up 5.01%), Hindustan Unilever (up 3.1%), United Breweries (up 2.78%), Patanjali Foods (up 1.45%) and United Spirits (up 1.34%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.98%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.88%), Dabur India (up 0.78%), Britannia Industries (up 0.73%) and Marico (up 0.62%) added.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles declined 1.38% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 3,486 crore in Q3 FY26 compared with a net profit of Rs 5,406 crore in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations fell 25.81% YoY to Rs 69,605 crore during the quarter.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) jumped 7.18% after the companys consolidated net profit climbed surged 142.38% to Rs 63.31 crore on a 26.73% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2873.26 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Bharti Airtel rose 1.55%. The company reported a 55.14% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,630.5 crore, despite a 19.62% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 53,981.6 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Data Patterns (India) rallied 7.07% after the companys standalone net profit jumped 30.54% to Rs 58.30 crore on a 47.92% surge in revenue from operations to Rs 173.13 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with Q3 FY25.

BEML dropped 6.76% after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 22.38 crore in Q3 FY26 compared with net profit of Rs 24.41 crore posted in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations climbed 23.69% YoY to Rs 1083.27 crore during the quarter.

Hitachi Energy India surged 13.84% after the companys standalone net profit soared 90.29% to Rs 261.42 crore on 27.71% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2021.31 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Gland Pharma shed 0.30%. The company announced that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Zoledronic Acid Injection, 4 mg/100 mL (0.04 mg/mL), in single-dose bags.

Kriti Industries (India) rose 1.57% after the companys consolidated net loss narrowed sharply to Rs 0.47 crore in Q3 FY26 from Rs 10.89 crore in Q3 FY25. Net sales declined 35.3% YoY to Rs 135.79 crore during the quarter.

Pitti Engineering declined 4.12% after the companys consolidated net profit fell 29.61% QoQ to Rs 28.22 crore despite a flat 0.06% decline in net sales to Rs 477.42 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q2 FY26. On a year-on-year basis, the companys net profit fell by 1.9%, despite a 15% increase in net sales in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

NCC added 2.60% after the company reported 36.60% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 122.46 crore in Q3 FY26, compared to Rs 193.18 crore recorded in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations fell 8.91% YoY to Rs 4,868.29 crore during the third quarter of FY26.

Global Markets:

European equities traded on a mixed note on Friday, while Most Asian markets ended lower, following the tech-driven sell-off on Wall Street.

South Koreas market, which is heavily weighted in favor of companies in the chip and automotive industries, has seen sharp swings in the past week as sentiment over tech stocks sours.

Pharmaceutical stocks in Japan also slumped on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his website offering discounted prescription medicines.

On the commodities front, spot silver prices climbed 3.28%, having crashed about 13% on Thursday.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.20% to close at 48,908.72, while the S&P 500 lost 1.23% declined to 6,798.40, pushing it into negative territory for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted the biggest decline, tumbling 1.59% to end at 22,540.59.

Tech giant Alphabet came under pressure after reporting fourth-quarter results and flagging a sharp rise in artificial intelligence spending, with capital expenditure totaling $185 billion for 2026.

Qualcomm slid more than 8% after posting a weaker forecast because of a global memory shortage.

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