On January 20, 2026, the Indian stock market experienced a significant “bloodbath,” with the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices suffering their sharpest drops in months.
1) Market Bloodbath: ₹10 Lakh Crore Wiped Out
The Indian market saw a massive sell-off as the BSE Sensex plummeted 1,066 points (1.3%) to close at 82,180.47, while the NSE Nifty crashed 353 points (1.4%) to finish at 25,232.50. The broader market was hit even harder, with the BSE Smallcap index diving 2.7% and the Nifty Realty index falling over 4%.
2) Global Trade War Fears: Trump’s “Greenland Tariffs”
Sentiment soured globally following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose escalating tariffs on eight European allies (starting at 10% on February 1) if a deal to purchase Greenland is not reached. This sparked a risk-off mood across Asian and European markets, with Dow Jones futures signaling a drop of over 700 points at the U.S. open.
3) Gold and Silver Hit Historic All-Time Highs
As investors fled to safe-haven assets amid trade tensions, precious metals surged to record peaks. On the MCX, Gold breached the ₹1.5 Lakh/10g mark, and Silver crossed ₹3.27 Lakh/kg, marking unprecedented levels for both commodities.
4) Earnings Season Pressure: IT and Realty Suffer
Several major companies reported Q3 FY26 results that weighed on their share prices:
LTIMindtree: Shares crashed 6–7% after reporting a 10.5% decline in net profit, impacted by a one-time provision for new labour codes.
Oberoi Realty: Fell 8–9% to a 9-month low following flat quarterly profit growth.
ITC Hotels: Reported a strong performance with net profit jumping 77% YoY to ₹235 crore.
5) New IPOs and Corporate Moves
1) PhonePe IPO: The fintech giant reportedly received SEBI’s nod for its upcoming IPO.
2) Shadowfax IPO: The ₹1,907-crore issue opened today with mixed sentiment from brokerages.
3) Lodha Developers: Announced a massive ₹1 trillion ($11 billion) investment to develop a 2.5 GW data center park in Maharashtra.
