Nifty tanks 1.38%, its worst fall in 8 months
Nifty50 opened at 25,850 and hit the day’s high at the open at 25,858, after which it tumbled to the day’s low at 25,171.35 before settling at the day’s close. The index has been on a quiet streak for more than three months with either an increase or a decline below 1%. In this context, the current downward movement becomes important.
Small cap 100 and Midcap 100 indices had their worst days in eight months, dipping nearly 2.8% and 2.4% each.
Besides, ongoing weakness in the rupee and persistent foreign fund outflows dented investors’ sentiment.
“Market breadth remained negative for eight consecutive sessions, as the BSE advance-decline ratio dropped sharply to 0.80, the lowest reading in nine months, signalling persistent selling across the mid and small-cap segments,” said Nandish Shah, deputy Vice-President, HDFC Securities.
Weak earnings
The overall decline in the market comes against the backdrop of weak earnings of companies that have announced their third-quarter results in the current fiscal year. Moreover, the uncertainty has increased due to fears around the U.S. acquisition of Greenland and the suspension of the EU-U.S. trade deal over the issue.
The increasing uncertainty could be gauged by the rally in safe haven assets like gold and silver.
“As long as the market is trading below 25,300 in the Nifty and 82,300 for the Sensex, a weak sentiment is likely to continue. On the lower side, the market could slip to 25,100-25,000/82,000-81,700. On the flip side, above 25,300/82,300, a pullback move could take the market to 25,400-25,435/82,500-82,800,” said Shrikant Chouhan, head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities.
Extending its previous day’s decline, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,065.71 points, or 1.28%, to settle at 82,180.47. During the day, it dropped 1,235.6 points, or 1.48%, to 82,010.58.
The 50-share NSE Nifty tanked 353 points, or 1.38%, to end at 25,232.50.
From the 30-Sensex firms, Eternal declined by 4.0%, followed by Bajaj Finance (3.88%), Sun Pharma, InterGlobe Aviation, Trent, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv.
HDFC Bank emerged as the only gainer from the pack.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹3,262.82 crore on Monday (January 19, 2026), while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) remained buyers as they bought stocks worth ₹4,234.30 crore, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled lower.
Markets in Europe were trading over 1% lower. U.S. markets were closed on Monday (January 19, 2026) for a holiday.
“The aggressive and often unpredictable use of tariffs by the U.S. administration as a foreign policy tool is creating widespread unease among global market participants, triggering sharp volatility across financial markets. This has weighed heavily on risk assets while pushing safe-haven gold and silver prices higher.
“Fresh threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose additional tariffs on European nations opposing the U.S. move to take control of Greenland have triggered another bout of global equity selling, with Indian markets also witnessing broad-based pressure,” R. Ponmudi, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
The Indian equity market ended today’s session on a decisively negative note, reflecting a combination of weak global cues, cautious investor positioning, and subdued risk appetite, he added.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, went up by 0.09% to $63.91 per barrel.
On Monday (January 19, 2026), the Sensex declined 324.17 points or 0.39% to settle at 83,246.18. The Nifty dropped 108.85 points or 0.42% to 25,585.50.
(with inputs from PTI)
Published – January 20, 2026 04:38 pm IST
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