Sensex spurts 122 pts; oil & gas shares advance; VIX zooms 7.78%

The headline equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in early afternoon trade, buoyed by news that India and the European Union had clinched a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) after 18 years of stalled negotiations. Investor focus remained on key quarterly earnings from Asian Paints, Vodafone Idea, and Motilal Oswal Financial Services, while traders also monitored movements in the rupee and global geopolitical developments.

The Nifty traded above 25,100 level. Oil & Gas shares advanced after declining for previous consecutive trading session.

At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex added 122.19 points or 0.15% to 81,658.93. The Nifty 50 index rose 66.40 points or 0.27% to 25,113.95.

 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.23% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.43%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,712 shares rose and 2,385 shares fell. A total of 197 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 7.78% to 15.30.

India-EU Trade Deal:

India and the European Union have signed the mother of all deals, PM Modi said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the signing of the free trade agreement between India and the European Union and said that the deal represented 25 per cent of the global GDP and 1/3rd of global trade.

On tariffs overall, Sefcovic said the aim is 9799% partial or full tariff liberalisation, which could generate savings of around 4 billion a year and help double bilateral trade within five years.

The Narendra Modi government is said to have agreed to immediately lower duties on up to 200,000 European cars a year priced above 15,000, or about Rs 16.5 lakh. Electric vehicles are excluded.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, soared 5.93% to 15.04. The Nifty 27 January 2026 futures were trading at 25,145, at a premium of 31.05 points as compared with the spot at 25,113.95.

The Nifty option chain for the 27 January 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 202.7 lakh contracts at the 25,300 strike price. Maximum put OI of 259.6 lakh contracts was seen at 25,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index added 0.73% to 11,388.80. The index tanked 1.19% in the previous trading session.

Oil India (up 3.28%), Adani Total Gas (up 2.7%), Aegis Logistics (up 1.83%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.7%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.52%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 1.21%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.07%), Reliance Industries (up 0.28%), Petronet LNG (up 0.16%) and Castrol India (up 0.02%) added.

On the other hand, Mahanagar Gas (down 3.44%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 1.53%) and GAIL (India) (down 0.81%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ultratech Cement added 2.54% after the company reported a 26.92% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,725.40 crore on 22.78% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 21,829.68 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Axis Bank jumped 4.51% after the bank reported a 2.94% increase in standalone net profit to Rs 6,489.57 crore in Q3 FY26 compared with Rs 6,303.77 crore in Q3 FY25. Total income increased 4.26% year on year (YoY) to Rs 38,500.06 crore in Q3 FY26.

DCB Bank zoomed 7.04% after the bank reported 22% jump in net profit to Rs 185 crore on a 16% increase in total income to Rs 846 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

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