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The key equity indices traded with modest gains amid the ongoing Budget 2026 proceedings. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first finance minister in India to do so. Reform-oriented announcements by the finance minister boosted investor sentiment.

Metal shares skid as gold and silver prices slide; index plunges for a second consecutive session.

At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 314.85 points or 0.38% to 82,529.21. The Nifty 50 index added 62.80 points or 0.21% to 25,372.25.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 Mid-Cap index rose 0.05% and the BSE 250 Small-Cap index declined 0.19%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,443 shares rose and 1,319 shares fell. A total of 210 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 2.56% to 13.98.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 February 2026 settlement fell 5.06% to Rs 1,42,075, while MCX Silver futures for the same settlement declined 8.09% to Rs 2,68,295.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index declined 1.88% to 11,604.85. The index tumbled 7% in the two consecutive trading sessions.

Hindustan Copper (down 10.93%), Hindustan Zinc (down 9.26%), National Aluminium Company (down 8.47%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.97%) and Jindal Stainless (down 2.56%), Vedanta (down 2.27%), NMDC (down 0.17%), Tata Steel (down 0.07%), Adani Enterprises (down 0.07%) declined.

Union Budget 2026

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, becoming the first finance minister in India to deliver nine budgets in a row. She said Budget 2026'27 was prepared at Kartavya Bhavan and was being presented amid a challenging global environment where trade and multilateralism have become increasingly important.

Reflecting on the government's record, she said India's economic trajectory over the past 12 years has been marked by fiscal discipline, moderate inflation and sustained growth, even during periods of global uncertainty and disruption.

Outlining the policy roadmap, the finance minister proposed interventions across six broad areas, including scaling up manufacturing in strategic and frontier sectors, rejuvenating legacy industries, creating champion MSMEs, delivering a strong push to infrastructure, ensuring long-term security and stability, and developing city-centric economic regions.

She said Aatmanirbharta has remained the guiding principle of policymaking, with a focus on building domestic manufacturing capacity, strengthening energy security and reducing critical import dependencies, while implementing reforms to support employment, agricultural productivity, household purchasing power and universal service delivery. These measures, she said, have helped sustain economic growth of around 7% and reduce poverty.

Emphasising reform over rhetoric and people over populism, she said the government has pursued structural reforms, fiscal prudence and monetary stability, alongside a strong thrust on public investment.

She also announced the Rs 10,000 crore Biopharma Shakti initiative over five years to develop India as a global biopharma manufacturing hub, including plans to expand NIPER institutions, build a nationwide network of clinical trial sites and strengthen the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to global standards.

Continuing her speech, the finance minister said the government will launch ISM 2.0 to boost domestic production of equipment and materials, enable full-stack design based on Indian intellectual property, strengthen supply chains, and promote industry-led research, training and skill development.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NTPC rose 0.20% after the company reported an 8.27% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,597.05 crore, supported by a 1.72% rise in net sales to Rs 45,845.68 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

MPS rose 3.13% after the company said it has agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Unbound Medicine, marking its entry into the healthcare and medical information technology segment.

Meesho fell 4.97% after the company's consolidated net loss widened to Rs 490.68 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with a loss of Rs 37.43 crore in Q3 FY25. Net sales rose 31.32% YoY to Rs 3,517.60 crore in Q3 FY26 from Rs 2,678.64 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Global Markets:

On Friday, stocks witnessed some profit taking, with technology shares remaining in a funk, even as investors largely approved of President Donald Trump's pick of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.43% to finish at 6,939.03, its third straight down day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back 179 points, or 0.36%, to settle at 48,892.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite underperformed, dropping 0.94%, to end the day at 23,461.82. All three indexes fell more than 1% at session lows.

Warsh's selection was likely to ease concern about Fed independence because of his experience as a Fed governor and strong stance at times against inflation. While he is likely to push for lower rates in short term as Trump wants, the financial markets view him as someone who wouldn't always follow the president's direction and maintain credibility for monetary policy.