Sensex, Nifty 50 Trade Higher Ahead Of Budget 2026 Presentation, Gold And Silver Crash

Domestic equity benchmarks traded higher in early deals on Sunday, February 1, with the Sensex and Nifty 50 gaining modestly ahead of the Union Budget 2026 presentation later in the day.

Investor sentiment remained cautious but positive as market participants positioned themselves for key policy announcements, particularly on fiscal consolidation, infrastructure spending and tax reforms. Banking and Auto stocks traded higher, while IT and Metal shares saw muted activity.

Sensex opened at 82,388.97, slightly above than its previous close, and traded in a tight range between an intraday high and low of 82,499.50 and 82,119.31, respectively. Similarly, Nifty 50 started the day at 25,333.75, marginally higher than its previous close, and traded between an intraday high and low of 25,346.85 and 25,252.30, respectively.

As of the time of writing, Sensex was up 118 points, or 0.14 per cent at 82,387.78, while Nifty 50 traded higher by 17.20 points, or 0.07 per cent at 25,337.85.

Meanwhile, smallcap stocks traded with a muted tone, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 falling more than 1.20 per cent in early trade. Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty 500, on the other hand, traded lower but with modest losses.

Nifty Microcap 250, which tracks the 250 most valuable and liquid stocks beyond the constituents of Nifty 500, traded in the green around 0.30 per cent up.

Nifty 50: Top Gainers And Losers

From the Nifty 50 index, Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Maruti, ONGC, Tata Consumer Products, and Bajaj Auto were the top gainers in early deals, trading higher between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.

On the other hand, Hindalco tumbled more than 4 per cent, followed by Infosys, Nestle India, Titan and Coal India, each down by more than 1 per cent.

Gold and Silver Crash

On the other hand, gold and silver on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) crashed further, tracking sell-off in the global markets.

The April Gold futures slipped as much as 9 per cent, or Rs 13,711 to hit the lower circuit at Rs 1,38,634 per 10 grams. Meanwhile, March Silver futures also tumbled up to 9 per cent, or Rs 26,273, to hit the lower circuit at Rs 2,65,652 per kilogram.