Benchmarks have pared some losses, but continued to trade lower in late afternoon session as on-going military conflict in the Middle East weighed on market sentiments. Tensions in Middle East escalated after Israel and the U.S. conduct Air strikes in Iran which resulted into death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran has conducted missile and drone attacks on Israel and US military bases in Middle East. Investors worry that the conflict could result into Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz which accounts for around 20% of global oil flow, spiking the global crude oil prices. Besides, markets participants stayed away from any risky bets amid weekly expiry of Nifty F&O contracts and ahead of tomorrow’s market holiday.

On the global front, Asian and European equity markets were trading lower as investors feared the impact of high crude oil price on inflation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80210.89, down by 1076.30 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 78543.73 and 80632.55. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 0.37% while, Consumer Durables down by 2.34%, Industrials down by 2.23%, Oil & Gas down by 2.21%, Energy down by 2.19% and Consumer Discretionary down by 2.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.04%, Sun Pharma Industries up by 1.09%, ITC up by 0.56% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 5.87%, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.41%,  Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.48%, Reliance Industries down by 2.85% and Maruti Suzuki down by 2.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has showed that India's domestic air passenger traffic grew 4.36 per cent year-on-year to 152.49 lakh in January 2026 as compared to 146.11 lakh passengers in the year-ago period. 

IndiGo has regained its dominant position with a 63.6 per cent market share, carrying 97.04 lakh passengers during the reporting month, after significant December 2025 disruptions caused by new pilot duty (FDTL) norms. In contrast, Air India Group lost nearly 3 per cent market share at 26.5 per cent (40.34-lakh passengers) sequentially in January.

In terms of passenger load factor, Akasa Air recorded the highest seat factor at 93.2 per cent during January 2026, while IndiGo had the second-best at 87.7 per cent during the reporting month. Besides, the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of January 2026 was seen 1.44 per cent while IndiGo delivered the best On-time performance at 70.9 per cent from six key metro airports, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, during the month under review.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24837.65, down by 341.00 points or 1.35% after trading in a range of 24603.50 and 24989.35. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.85%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.84%, ONGC up by 1.05%, Sun Pharma Industries up by 0.88% and ITC up by 0.43%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 6.01%, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.49%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.76%, Reliance Industries down by 2.90% and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 2.78% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1035.27 points or 1.79% to 57,815.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 319.4 points or 0.91% to 35,095.09, Hang Seng declined 591.54 points or 2.27% to 26,039.00, Straits Times fell 117.08 points or 2.4% to 4,877.99 and Jakarta Composite plunged 199.46 points or 2.48% to 8,036.03, while Shanghai Composite strengthened 19.71 points or 0.47% to 4,182.59. Meanwhile, south Korean market was closed on account of Holiday.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 98.33 points or 0.91% to 10,812.22, France’s CAC fell 158.95 points or 1.89% to 8,421.80 and Germany’s DAX lost 477.26 points or 1.89% to 24,807.00.