MUMBAI, January 12, 2026
Indian equity benchmarks recovered from early losses to close higher on Monday, supported by buying in energy, banking, and metal stocks amid positive signals on India-US relations.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 301.93 points or 0.36% to settle at 84,878.17 after dipping as low as 82,861.07 during morning trade. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 106.95 points or 0.42% to 25,790.25, having fallen to 25,473.40 earlier in the session.
The rebound ended a five-day losing streak, during which the Sensex had declined 2,185.77 points or 2.54%, and the Nifty dropped 645.25 points or 2.45%. Gains were capped by ongoing geopolitical tensions and continued foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows.
Among Sensex constituents, top gainers included Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Trent, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, and Bharti Airtel. Laggards were Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, and HDFC Bank.
Investor sentiment improved following remarks from new US Ambassador Sergio Gor, who stated that no country is more essential to the United States than India. He emphasized active efforts toward finalizing a trade agreement and extended an invitation for New Delhi to join the US-led “Pax Silica” strategic alliance on critical minerals and artificial intelligence.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, noted that the ambassador’s favorable comments on trade talks helped markets recover from intraday lows, boosting overall sentiment. Value buying emerged in consumer and banking shares amid expectations of strong Q3 earnings and rising demand.
The Indian rupee strengthened 2 paise to close at 90.16 (provisional) against the US dollar, aided by a weaker greenback and falling crude oil prices. Brent crude fell 0.27% to $63.17 per barrel.
FIIs offloaded shares worth ₹3,769.31 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors bought ₹5,595.84 crore. Asian markets closed mostly higher, European markets traded mixed, and US markets had ended positive on Friday.
