India stock benchmarks muted as IT fall offsets upbeat business updates

Jan 5, 2026, 11:39 GMT+7
By Bharath Rajeswaran
Reuters - Indian equity benchmarks were little changed on Monday, as a drop in IT stocks and concerns over additional U.S. tariffs offset positive business updates that reinforced expectations of better quarterly earnings.
The Nifty 50rose as much as 0.11% to a record high of 26,358.25, before surrendering the gains. It was last down 0.13%. The Sensexfell 0.16% to 85,623.3 as of 10:05 a.m. IST.
Asian stocks climbed and oil prices were choppy as investors considered the implications of U.S. military action in Venezuela.
Back home, twelve of the 16 major sectors advanced. State-owned lenders rose 0.9%, led by Punjab National Bankand Bank of Barodafollowing their quarterly updates.
IT firms,which earn a significant share of revenue from the U.S., fell 2.5%.
HCLT echlost 3.3%, while Tech Mahindrashed 2% after CLSA downgraded the stocks, citing a "lack of concrete signs of a major turnaround" for the sector.
Citi Research said that recovery in the sector will likely be slow and uneven, while valuations will remain unattractive. IT companies will start reporting their quarterly results from next week.
Meanwhile, trade worries intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump said that tariffs on India could be raised if New Delhi does not meet Washington's demand to curb purchases of Russian oil.
U.S. has already imposed a 50% tariff on India, with half of that brought in as a punitive measure over New Delhi's Russian crude imports.
The broader small-capsrose 0.2%, while mid-capsfell 0.3%.
"While the markets have started the year on a firm footing, with Nifty hitting fresh lifetime highs, the underlying tone remains fragile," said Ashish Chaturmohta, managing director and fund manager of Apex PMS at JM Financial.
Among individual stocks, real estate developer Sobharose 4% after its sales jumped 52.3% in the December quarter.
CSB Bankclimbed 7.6% to record high after the lender logged a 21% jump in its total deposits in the third quarter.

Sumber : Reuters