The gold and silver prices

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise’s Promoter Director and Executive Chairperson of Apollo HealthCo, Shobana Kamineni, drew the attention of the government towards supporting preventive healthcare.

She said, ‘A Viksit Bharat will be built on a healthy youth and workforce—nearly one billion strong by 2047. A prevention-first healthcare system, powered by mandatory check-ups, digitised records, and UPI-style data portability, can unlock early risk detection, personalised care, and long-term productivity at scale’. She further said, ‘As India led the world in digital payments, preventive healthcare can be our next global export.’

• Total sales: 73,137 units, up 11.5% year-on-year (January 2025: 65,603 units).

• Domestic sales (dispatches to dealers): 59,107 units, up 9% from 54,003 units in January 2025.

• Exports: 14,030 units, compared with 11,600 units in January 2025.

• Comment from Hyundai MD & CEO Tarun Garg:

“Achieving our highest-ever monthly domestic sales of 59,107 units, alongside highest-ever total sales of 73,137 units with a strong 11.5% year-on-year growth, reflects not only Hyundai's brand leadership but also the collective strength of our people, partners and customers.”

Defence stocks remained in the spotlight on Sunday, February 1, ahead of the Union Budget 2026–27, amid high expectations for the sector following the India-EU deal and encouraging Q3 results from key companies.

Shares of Bharat Electronics (BEL), Mazagon Dock, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Data Patterns, Cochin Shipyard, Paras Defence, Hindustan Aeronautics, and Bharat Dynamics are likely to attract investor attention. Market participants are closely watching the Budget for any allocations and policy announcements affecting the sector.

Gold, silver prices hit lower circuit levels in futures trade ahead of Union Budget 2026-27 presentation.

Shares were trading 15% lower in the early trade.

MCX Gold and Silver saw a substantial fall last week amid multiple headwinds in global markets. MCX Gold February futures tumbled 11.6% on Friday and are down 6% on Monday morning to trade around ₹1,40,674 per 10 gram.

Meanwhile, MCX Silver March future declined 27% on last Friday and is down another 6% on Sunday morning to trade around ₹2,74,410 per kg ahead of Budget 2026.

Shares were trading with deep cuts

The metal stocks were under selling pressure following a sharp decline in commodity prices.

At 9:17 am, the S&P BSE SENSEX was trading at 82,185.39, down 84.39 points, or 0.10%. The NIFTY50 was at 25,283.70, lower by 36.95 points, or 0.15%.

SENSEX up over 100 pts, NIFTY hovers over 25,300

Gold futures for delivery on February 5 dropped 6% to hit an intraday low of ₹1,40,674 per 10 grams, and silver futures for delivery on March 5 tumbled 6%, or ₹17,515 to ₹2,74,410 per kilogram, data from MCX showed.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹601 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹2,251 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

Silver prices collapsed 19% to ₹3.12 lakh per kg in the national capital on Saturday, while gold plunged 2% to ₹1.65 lakh per 10 grams, as investors booked profits amid a global selloff triggered by a stronger US dollar.

The private sector lender had earned a net profit of ₹339 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Since the last Budget, the SENSEX and NIFTY50 have gained 6.14% and 7.82%, respectively, amid uncertainties around trade tariffs, ongoing geopolitical tensions, sustained foreign capital outflows, and subdued earnings reported by Indian corporates.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold equities worth ₹1,24,221 crore since the last Budget, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

As a result, market participants will be closely watching the government’s announcements for measures aimed at curbing the foreign investor sell-off and easing pressure on the rupee, which is hovering near its all-time low against the US dollar.

On the technical charts, the NIFTY has shown a sharp reversal from the 25,000 levels. The upside remained capped at 25,500 due to the lack of positive triggers and mixed signals from the global markets.

Stock Market Live Updates: The domestic equity market is likely to open flat on February 1, 2026, Budget Day, as per the GIFT NIFTY futures. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her ninth consecutive Budget today.

Welcome to our live coverage of the stock market on Budget Day, Sunday, February 1. We’ll bring you real-time updates, sector-wise insights, and market reactions as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget.

This live Budget blog is brought to you by Swati Verma, a business journalist with 11 years of experience covering markets, macroeconomics, and government policy.