Benchmarks traded flat with negative bias during late afternoon session ahead of monthly expiry of Sensex F&O contracts. Investors opted to take a cautious approach amid uncertainties surrounding US tariff policies and ongoing US-Iran negotiations. Traders overlooked the data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showing private listed non-financial companies’ revenue grew by 10.1% in the third quarter (October-December) of FY26 (Q3FY26). However, losses remained capped amid fresh buying from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). FIIs were the net buyers on Wednesday’s session with net buying of equities worth Rs 2,991.64 crore.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed as the Bank of Korea maintained its key interest rate and signaled a neutral policy stance in its new six-month dot plot framework. European equity markets were trading higher ahead of release of euro area economic confidence survey. The economic sentiment index is expected to rise to 99.8 in February from 99.4 in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82229.84, down by 46.23 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 81970.47 and 82579.16. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.72%, Capital Goods up by 0.55%, Industrials up by 0.45%, Telecom up by 0.43% and Oil & Gas up by 0.42%, while Utilities down by 0.62%, Realty down by 0.54%, Power down by 0.41%, Consumer Durables down by 0.35% and FMCG down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 1.53%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.03%, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries up by 0.76%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.75% and TCS up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.50%, Trent down by 1.33%, NTPC down by 1.14%, Eternal down by 1.12% and Asian Paints down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its 'Flash Report on Central Sector Infrastructure Projects' for January 2026 has shown a cumulative cost overrun of Rs 5.52 lakh crore in 1,702 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more. The cost of 1,702 projects monitored by the MoSPI was revised at Rs 39,24,534 crore as compared to their original cost of Rs 33,71,816 crore. The revised cost of these projects was reported on MoSPI’s newly operationalised portal -- PAIMANA (Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation-building), across 17 central ministries/departments. During the month, 3 projects were commissioned and 203 additional projects were brought under the monitoring of PAIMANA.

The report highlighted that as of January 2026, the cumulative expenditure incurred on these 1,702 under implementation projects stands at Rs 20.02 lakh crore, accounting for approximately 51.01 per cent of the revised project cost. Out of the total 1,702 projects, 645 (38 per cent) have achieved over 80 per cent progress, while 240 (14 per cent) have crossed 80 per cent completion, reflecting that a substantial portion of projects are at advanced stages of implementation. 

It said the transport & logistics sector accounts for the highest number of ongoing projects at 1,180, with revised estimates of Rs 20.65 lakh crore, underscoring priority to connectivity-driven infrastructure growth. The total ongoing projects include 695 mega projects (costing Rs 1,000 crore and above) with a revised cost of Rs 29 lakh crore, and 1,007 major projects (worth below Rs 1,000 crore and up to Rs 150 crore) amounting to Rs 4.72 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25462.45, down by 20.05 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 25400.95 and 25572.95. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles up by 1.62%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.53%, Eicher Motors up by 1.47%, Max Healthcare Inst up by 1.42% and Shriram Finance up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.50%, Coal India down by 1.39%, Trent down by 1.16%, NTPC down by 1.13% and Eternal down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite plunged 116.54 points or 1.42% to 8,205.69, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.6 points or 0.01% to 4,146.63, Hang Seng declined 389.72 points or 1.48% to 26,376.00 and Straits Times fell 48.18 points or 0.97% to 4,959.55, while Nikkei 225 surged 145.88 points or 0.25% to 58,729.00, Taiwan Weighted added 1.42 points or 0% to 35,414.49 and KOSPI increased 223.41 points or 3.54% to 6,307.27.

European equity markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.62 points or 0.2% to 10,828.03, France’s CAC rose 35.23 points or 0.41% to 8,594.30 and Germany’s DAX gained 10.36 points or 0.04% to 25,186.30.