KOLKATA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2026 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE VOL 35 NO. 73, 24 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12 & ANDAMAN `20) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 81,537.70 ▼ 769.67 NIFTY: 25,048.65 ▼ 241.25 NIKKEI 225: 53,846.87 ▲ 157.98 HANG SENG: 26,749.51 ▲ 119.55 `/$: 91.96 ▼ 0.34 `/€: 107.91 ▼ 0.78 BRENT: $65.87 ▲ $1.81 GOLD: `1,54,120 ▲ `3,449 `25,000-CRVRR,`1L-CR OMOs LINED UPIN 3WEEKS RBI readies liquidity bazooka of`1.25Lcr CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, January 23 THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) on Friday announced another set of liquidity measures that will infuse `1.25 lakh crore into the financial systeminthenextthreeweeks. The measures include a 90dayvariableraterepo(VRR)operation amounting `25,000 crore on January 30 and a three-year dollar-rupee buy/sell swap auctionof$10billiononFebruary4. Itwillalsopurchasegovernment securities worth `1 lakh crore throughopenmarketoperations (OMOs),across two tranches of `50,000 crore each on February 5andFebruary12. The announcement comes atatimewhenthebankingsystem liquidity has been shrinking. According to Bloomberg data,theaverageliquiditystood at `1.78 lakh crore in November,and fell to `72,550 crore in Decemberand`57,121crorein January. According to sources, market participants had also approached the central bank to provide relief as there was a sharp spike in certificate of RBI net liquidity injection/absorption (in ` crore) 3,00,000 Jan 23, 2025 3,15,618 2,00,000 1,00,000 0 -1,00,000 Jan 01, 2025 -2,00,000 1,04,974 -3,00,000 -4,00,000 -5,00,000 Jan 22, 2026 Aug 02, 2025 -4,11,607 -10,170 Source: RBI ■ Average liquidity has fallen to ■ Central bank has injected in January from `72,550 crore in Dec and `1.78 lakh crore in Nov in December and January through OMOs, forex swaps `57,121 crore deposit (CD) rates. The continuous intervention in the forex market on account of a weaker rupeehasbeendrainingoutliquidity from the system. The increased demand for credit amid sluggish deposit growth hasalsocreatedpressureonthe banking system’s liquidity. `4.5 lakh crore “This is a much-needed action from the RBI in the current scenario of elevated credit-deposit ratio and dollar sales to stabilise the currency,” said Madhavankutty G, chief economist,Canara Bank. Continued on Page 10 CCI probe into Refinersrecast InUS,TikTokno steel cartel crudesourcing longerChinese FOUR MAJOR STEELMAKERS — Tata Steel, JSW Steel and state-run SAILand RINL— disclosed their pricing plans to rivals and coordinated production cuts to reduce supplies,an antitrust probe report shows. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe found 28 firms colluded on steel prices, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 5 INDIA’S CRUDE OIL import story is entering a new phase. After months of heavy reliance on discounted Russian barrels, Indian refiners are quietly rebalancing their sourcing playbook — bringing West Asia back to the centre of the crude basket as Russian volumes ease,reports Saurav Anand. ■ PAGE 2 ● Investors poorer MUTED MOOD TIKTOKHAS SAID that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had sold a majority stake in the app’s US operations to a group of non-Chinese investors,concluding a six-year legal saga. The new investors, including Oracle, MGX and Silver Lake, will own more than 80% of the new entity, reports NYT. ■ PAGE 10 by `16.3L cr;Adani shares top laggards ■ FPI outflow of KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, January 23 STABILISING CURRENCY 4,00,000 Marketslogworst weekin4months so far in January is the highest monthly selling in five months THE NIFTY DECLINED by 2.51%duringtheweek,logging its worst weekly loss in four months, as investors turned risk-averse amid depressed market sentiment. Both the Sensex and the Nifty recorded losses in all but one trading session of the week, largely driven by geopolitical tensions, mixed Q3 corporate earnings, and continued depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar that hit a fresh low on Friday. On Friday, the Sensex slumped 769.67 points, or 0.94%, to close at 81,537.70, erasing all gains made in the previous session.The Nifty fell 241.25points,or0.95%,toend at25,048.65.Onaweeklybasis, the Sensex declined 2.43% — another four-month low. The broader indices performed worse,withtheBSEMidcapand the BSE Smallcap falling 4.2% and5.8%,respectively.TheBSE Smallcap’s weekly decline was the steepest in 11 months (since February14). Broad-based selling made investors poorer by `16.3 lakh croreduringtheweek,ofwhich `6.96lakhcrorewaswipedout on Friday alone. `33,143 cr ■ The BSE Smallcap’s weekly decline was the steepest in 11 months RUPEE HITS FRESH LOW Rupee vs dollar (Intra-day, Jan 23) 0.37% 91.63 Previous close 91.96 Close Inverted scale Report on Page 6 Continued on Page 10 »INSIDE« EDIT: EARNINGS, NOT NARRATIVE P8 »Q3 RESULTS CORNER« JSW STEEL PROFIT RISES 198%, BEATS ESTIMATES P4 INDUSIND NET PROFIT DROPS 90% ON MFI STRESS P6 GCPL NET FLAT ON ONE-TIME EXPENSES, MISSES STREET P4 Kolkata
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