India’s benchmark Nifty 50 increased 1% to 25,088 points, a day after the Budget announcement increasing securities transactions tax spooked the markets.
Nifty 50 opened at 24,796.50 and gradually dipped to a low of 24,679.40 points, increasing to the day’s high of 25,108.10 before settling down to the day’s close on Monday (February 2). BSE Sensex, too, increased 1.2% to 81,666.46 points. All sectoral indices gained, barring Nifty IT and healthcare.
The increase was mainly on a lower base set on Budget day when the markets slipped nearly 2% and not due to any major change in sentiment. To be sure, the ratio of stocks that advanced to the ones that declined were at 0.88 today at the BSE. This is more than 0.77 yesterday, signaling a slight improvement in the breadth. However, the ratio has been decreasing for three consecutive months beginning December 2025, when the ADR was 0.97. This clearly shows that the a small bunch of stocks are doing the heavy lifting while the underlying markets are weakening.
“Indian equity markets staged a strong rebound on Monday, with Nifty recovering around 400 points from the day’s low to settle at 25,088, up 1.1%, after a volatile session. Broader markets also participated in the recovery, with Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 1.2% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 1%. The late-session rally came as investors analysed the fine print of Budget 2026,” said Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Published – February 02, 2026 07:58 pm IST
