Equities extended their losing streak for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, with the Sensex and Nifty dragged lower by heavy selling in metal stocks and continued weakness in oil and gas counters.

Sensex traded 595.20 points or 0.70 per cent lower at 84,365.94 at 12.30 pm, and Nifty 50 depreciated 205.40 points or 0.79 per cent to 25,935.35. BSE Sensex witnessed a fall of over 730 points in today’s trading session. Nifty 50 fell over 250 points from the previous close of 26,140.75.

Cautious sentiment prevailed as concerns over potential US tariff actions and sustained foreign fund outflows overshadowed optimism around earnings growth.

Both midcap and smallcap stocks posted sharp losses, declining over 1 per cent each. All sectoral indices traded in the red, led by metal and oil & gas stocks, which fell 2–3 per cent and weighed heavily on the broader market.

Top gainers & losers of Nifty 50

Shares of Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Adani Ports, SBI Life, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Auto led the gainers of Nifty 50, while Hindalco, ONGC, Jio Financial Services, Wipro, Adani Enterprises and JSW Steel traded as major laggards.

Hindustan Zinc, JSL, National Aluminium, Hindustan Copper and Jindal Steel traded 4-6 per cent lower, dragging the Nifty metal index over 3 per cent.

Market breadth remained firmly negative, with declines far outpacing advances. Of the 3,085 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange at the time of writing, as many as 2,457 traded lower, while only 552 stocks advanced and 76 remained unchanged.

The weakness was also reflected in the number of stocks hitting fresh lows, with 114 stocks, featuring Page Industries, Colgate, Whirlpool and UBL, touching their 52-week low compared to just 40 stocks (including Bajaj Auto, Polycab, MCX, Thangamayil Jewellery and Eicher Motors) at a 52-week high.

Meanwhile, 41 stocks were locked in the upper circuit, while 55 stocks hit the lower circuit, underscoring the overall bearish sentiment in the market.

Midcap & smallcap movers

IDFC First Bank, Dixon and Bharat Dynamics posted modest gains among the midcap index, while National Aluminium, Hindustan Petroleum, NMDC, Indian Bank and SAIL dragged 3-5 per cent.

Under the smallcap segment, Trident, Data Patterns and Star Health gained 1-6 per cent, while Signature Global, Hindustan Copper, KEC International and Swan Corp dragged 3-10 per cent.

On the BSE, Balaji Amines rallied 10 per cent, Trident, Alok Industies and Avalon were other top gainers. On the losing side were Gokex, Signature Global, Avanti Feeds, MOIL and PGIL falling 6-12 per cent.

Published on January 8, 2026

Growth in the artificial intelligence
and defence ‌sectors will boost global copper demand 50 per cent by 2040,
but ​supplies are expected to fall short by more than 10 million
metric tonne annually without more recycling and mining, the
consultancy S&P Global said on Thursday.

Copper has long-been used widely across the construction,
transportation, tech and electronics industries as it is one of
the best electricity-conducting metals, is corrosion-resistant
and is easy to shape and form.

While the electric vehicle ​industry has lifted copper demand
the past decade, the AI, ⁠defence and robotics industries will
require even more of the metal during the next 14 years
alongside traditional consumer appetite for air conditioners and
other copper-hungry appliances, S&P said in ​its report.

Demand globally will reach ⁠42 million metric tonne per year
by that 2040 mark, up from 28 million metric tonne in 2025, the
report found. Without new sources of supply, nearly a quarter of
that demand is likely to ‌be unmet, the report found.

“The underlying demand factor here is ‌electrification of the
world, and copper is the metal of electrification,” Dan Yergin,
S&P’s vice chairman and one of ‍the report’s authors, told
Reuters.

AI is a major growth area for copper, with more than 100 new
data centre projects last year valued at just ‍under $61 billion,
Reuters reported last month.

The conflict in Ukraine and moves by Japan, Germany and
others to increase defence spending are likely to also fuel
copper demand, the report found.

“Demand for copper really is inelastic in the defence
sector,” said Carlos Pascual, an S&P vice president and former
US ambassador to Ukraine.

Nearly every electronic device contains copper. Chile and
Peru are the largest copper miners, and China is the largest
copper smelter. The United States, ⁠which has imposed a tariff on
some types of copper, imports half of its needs each year.

The report does ​not factor in potential supply from deep-sea
mining.

S&P published a similar report in ⁠2022 that forecasted
copper demand should the world reach carbon neutrality by 2050,
a goal described as “net zero.”

The report released on Thursday uses a different
methodology, S&P said, and forecasts demand using a base-case
assumption that copper demand will rise regardless of government
climate policy.

“The ⁠politics of the energy transition have changed pretty
dramatically,” Yergin said.

Published on January 8, 2026