Sensex and Nifty: Due to investors’ caution in the lack of significant local or international triggers, Indian equities markets concluded the first trading session of the year 2026 flat.

The Sensex fell 32 points, or 0.04 percent, at the end of trading to finish at 85,188.6.

In contrast, the Nifty closed at 26,146.55, up 16.95 points, or 0.06 percent.

“As long as the Nifty stays within the immediate support zone of 26,000–26,050, the short-term bias will continue to be positive,” an expert said.

26,250–26,300 is a key supply zone on the upswing. According to market experts, a clear and persistent breakthrough above this zone would pave the way for a move above 26,400–26,500.

ITC, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, and BEL were among the top losses at the close of the session due to selling pressure on a few heavyweight companies on the BSE.

Conversely, the market was bolstered and finished higher by shares of NTPC, Eternal, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

There was a mixed trend in the larger markets. The NSE Smallcap 100 saw a little decline of 0.05 percent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index increased by 0.44 percent.

FMCG equities saw strong selling on the sectoral front. The worst-performing industry of the day was the Nifty FMCG index, which dropped 3.17%.

As investors responded to worries over the government’s intention to put more taxes on tobacco goods starting on February 1, ITC shares fell by about 10%, which was the primary cause of the decrease.

On the other hand, the car industry did better than the overall market. Following the release of sales figures for December 2025 by a number of automakers, the Nifty Auto index increased by more than 1%.

The session concluded on a strong note for other industries, including IT, metal, finance, and real estate.

According to analysts, the benchmark indexes were mostly unchanged on the first day of the new year as the markets remained range-bound, with advances in some sectors counterbalanced by losses in FMCG companies.