The key equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in early afternoon trade amid profit booking and FII selling weighed on sentiment with the Nifty trading below 25,250 level. Investors adopted a risk-off stance, while market participants remained focused on the ongoing Q3 earnings season and movements in crude oil prices.

Oil & gas shares declined after posting gains over the previous two trading sessions.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 298.17 points or 0.36% to 82,008.90. The Nifty 50 index fell 88.10 points or 0.35% to 25,201.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.61% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.17%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,530 shares rose and 2,395 shares fell. A total of 202 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, increased 2.95% to 13.75. The Nifty 27 January 2026 futures were trading at 25,248.20, at a premium of 46.4 points as compared with the spot at 25,201.80.

The Nifty option chain for the 27 January 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 205.9 lakh contracts at the 25,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 150.2 lakh contracts was seen at 25,200 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 0.72% to 11,361.05. The index rose 0.63% in the past two consecutive trading session.

Mahanagar Gas (down 3.03%), Adani Total Gas (down 2.26%), Indraprastha Gas (down 1.6%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 1.54%), Aegis Logistics (down 1.4%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 1.38%), GAIL (India) (down 0.99%), Reliance Industries (down 0.84%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 0.7%) and Gujarat Gas (down0.41%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) fell 1.60% after its standalone net profit fell 15.70% to Rs 114.26 crore in Q3 FY26, even as revenue from operations rose 4.5% to Rs 272.19 crore compared with the same quarter last year.

Computer Age Management Services declined 2.45%. The company has reported 0.04% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 125.53 crore on a 5.52% increase in revenue from operations from operations to Rs 390.13 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

Home First Finance Company India rallied 4.04% after the company’s standalone net profit jumped 43.97% to Rs 140.20 crore on 18.8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 482.24 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.