Markets Daily India

Investors Are Counting on India’s Budget To Deliver a Magic Bullet

EU-India trade deal brings little cheer for markets.

Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, heading to present the budget in February last year.Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg

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By Ashutosh Joshi and Pratigya Vajpayee

January 28, 2026 at 2:45 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Good morning...

Happy Wednesday. I’m Ashutosh Joshi, with your daily dose of market news and analysis before the start of the Indian trading day.

The rupee will be in focus today. Asian currencies have started on a strong footing after President Donald Trump’s comments that he was not concerned about the dollar’s weakness dragged a gauge of the greenback down to its lowest in four years. As for stocks, the Nifty’s 0.5% rebound on Tuesday — which came as New Delhi clinched a major trade deal with the EU — appears to lack conviction (more on that below). One key reason for that is subpar earnings, with Nifty member Asian Paints being among the latest to report lower-than-estimated profits. Against this backdrop, the weight of expectations around Sunday’s budget is rising, with investors hoping for some positive measures to help revive sentiment. Watch out for some crucial results today from firms including Maruti Suzuki, Larsen, Lodha Developers and TVS Motor, and remember it’s the Federal Reserve’s rate decision tonight.