HCL Tech, Larsen & Toubro Buck the Trend: These 5 Stocks Rose Even as Sensex Crashed
When the BSE Sensex crashed by over 675 points on January 9, 2026, erasing lakhs of crores in investor wealth, most Indian stocks tumbled in sync with the broader market panic. Yet five exceptional companies defied this gravity, posting gains while their peers collapsed. This counterintuitive performance reveals critical insights about stock selection, sectoral dynamics, and the fundamental strengths that separate resilient companies from vulnerable ones during market turmoil.
The market crash on January 9 triggered widespread selling across sectors, with the Sensex trading down by 675 points until 2 PM. Investor hearts were racing as the downturn intensified, yet some stocks provided remarkable relief by showing strong gains despite the carnage. Understanding which stocks bucked the trend and why they did so offers invaluable lessons for investors navigating volatile markets.
The Market Context: What Triggered the Sensex Crash
The January 9, 2026 market downturn was not an isolated incident but part of broader volatility sweeping Indian equity markets. The Sensex’s intraday fall of 675 points represented significant selling pressure that wiped out substantial investor wealth within hours. During such episodes, market breadth typically turns severely negative, with declining stocks vastly outnumbering advancing ones.
On that particular day, of the Sensex’s 30 stocks, only 8 rose while 22 fell. The Nifty 50 saw a similar pattern with 12 gainers against 38 decliners. This imbalance demonstrates how market crashes create widespread fear that overrides individual company fundamentals for most stocks. However, the eight Sensex gainers and twelve Nifty gainers included names that would later be recognized as the market’s strongest performers during the downturn.
The crash reflected multiple macroeconomic concerns including elevated crude oil prices after geopolitical tensions, sluggish global cues, and persistent worries about AI-driven disruption affecting key sectors like IT services. Rising global crude prices amid escalating international tensions hit investor sentiment particularly hard, as traders reassessed risk exposures across portfolios.
The Five Stocks That Defied Gravity
Asian Paints: The Paint Sector Giant’s Resilience
Asian Paints led the top 5 gainers of the Nifty 50 by 2 PM on January 9, demonstrating remarkable resilience in a falling market. The share rose approximately 1.60 percent, reaching a daily high of ₹2,856 with robust buying activity and good volume.
This performance underscores why defensive consumer stocks often weather market storms better than cyclical names. Asian Paints operates in the paint sector with dominant market share, pricing power, and consistent demand regardless of economic cycles. The company’s strong brand equity and distribution network provide competitive moats that protect earnings during uncertainty.
The buying pressure in Asian Paints during the crash signaled institutional confidence. High volume accompanying the price increase indicates that smart money was accumulating shares rather than distributing them, a classic sign of conviction in long-term fundamentals.
HCL Technologies: IT Sector Surprise Amid Sector Weakness
HCL Technologies surprised the market by climbing approximately 1 percent during the broader decline, making a day’s high of ₹1,675. This performance was particularly notable because the IT sector faced significant headwinds during this period, with the Nifty IT index crashing nearly 3 percent as AI concerns intensified.
The stock’s ability to rise when its sectoral index fell over 5 percent intraday demonstrates company-specific strength overriding sectoral weakness. HCL Tech benefited from a slight recovery in IT stocks, but more importantly, from investors recognizing its differentiated positioning within the sector.
HCL Tech’s FY 2026 financial performance supports this resilience. The company delivered consolidated revenue of $14.7 billion (₹130,144 crore), up 3.9 percent in constant currency year-over-year, with operating margins of 17.2 percent. The company’s AI-led service offerings gained traction, with annualized Advanced AI revenues crossing $620 million in Q4 FY26. This strategic positioning in high-growth AI services differentiates HCL Tech from peers facing displacement concerns from AI automation.
The stock’s 227,000 employee base across 60 countries provides global delivery capabilities that clients value during uncertain times. While the company issued cautious FY27 guidance of 1-4 percent revenue growth due to market volatility and client-specific headwinds, investors recognized that HCL Tech’s fundamentals remained stronger than most IT peers.
ONGC: Government Oil Company’s Defensive Strength
ONGC secured the third position among Nifty 50’s top gainers, rising roughly 0.95 percent on the last trading day of the week with substantial trading volume. The state-owned oil enterprise exhibited significant strength when energy stocks faced pressure from falling crude prices and demand concerns.
ONGC’s defensive characteristics stem from its monopoly position in domestic oil exploration, government backing, and consistent dividend payments. During market crashes, income-focused investors often rotate into high-dividend-yield stocks, and ONGC’s dividend history makes it attractive in such environments.
The heavy volume trading in ONGC during the crash indicates institutional accumulation. Government-owned oil companies also benefit from strategic importance to national energy security, providing implicit government support during market stress.
Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL): Defense Sector’s Structural Bull Case
BEL, the strong defense sector stock, traded in the green during the market decline, rising about 0.75 percent with a day’s high of ₹424 by 2 PM. This performance reflects the structural bull case for Indian defense stocks, which have continued rallying despite broader market dips.
Defense stocks have become structural long-term plays with the Indian government increasing spending in this area significantly. BEL benefits from large platform programs across the Army, Navy, and Air Force, supported by a robust ₹73,000 crore order book and sustained inflows. The company’s positioning in India’s defense indigenization push under Make in India provides multi-year visibility on revenue growth.
From Budget 2025 to 2026, top defense stocks surged up to 51 percent on Make in India initiatives and rising defense spending, with BEL leading among established defense players. This structural growth story transcends short-term market volatility, explaining why BEL gained during the Sensex crash while cyclical stocks fell.
The defense sector’s resilience reflects India’s strategic imperatives for self-reliance in defense manufacturing, reducing import dependence and creating domestic champions like BEL that benefit from policy tailwinds regardless of market conditions.
Eternal: The High-Volume Trading Phenomenon
Eternal rounded out the top 5 gainers as a lower-priced stock that saw considerable trading activity, surging approximately 0.71 percent by 2 PM. This low-priced but heavily traded share performed with a great surge, drawing significant attention from traders due to its impressive volume.
Eternal’s case represents a different dynamic than the other four stocks. While Asian Paints, HCL Tech, ONGC, and BEL gained on fundamental strength, Eternal’s performance likely reflects retail trader interest and momentum trading in low-priced stocks during volatile sessions. The impressive volume attracted special interest from traders, suggesting speculative buying rather than fundamental accumulation.
This distinction is important for investors to understand. While all five stocks rose during the crash, the underlying drivers differed significantly. Four gained on fundamental resilience and institutional buying, while Eternal’s gain reflected retail trading dynamics. Understanding this difference helps investors distinguish between sustainable outperformance and temporary momentum.
Why These Stocks Bucked the Trend: Fundamental Analysis
Sectoral Diversification Protected Against Contagion
The five stocks represent diverse sectors: paints (Asian Paints), IT services (HCL Tech), oil and gas (ONGC), defense electronics (BEL), and diversified small-cap (Eternal). This diversification meant that sector-specific headwinds affecting one industry did not contagiously impact all five stocks simultaneously.
During market crashes, sectoral rotation often occurs as investors seek refuge in defensive sectors. Asian Paints represents consumer staples with inelastic demand, ONGC offers energy security with government backing, and BEL provides defense spending exposure with multi-year order visibility. These defensive characteristics attracted capital flowing out of cyclical and growth stocks.
IT stocks generally fell during this period, with the Nifty IT index tumbling over 15 percent and wiping out ₹5.08 lakh crore of investor wealth since the sell-off began. HCL Tech’s ability to rise despite this sectoral carnage demonstrates that company-specific fundamentals can override sectoral weakness when a company maintains competitive advantages and strategic positioning in high-growth areas like AI services.
Strong Fundamentals Attracted Institutional Buying
Institutional investors typically use market crashes as accumulation opportunities for high-quality stocks. The high volume accompanying price increases in Asian Paints, ONGC, and BEL suggests institutional accumulation rather than retail-driven momentum.
Asian Paints’ dominant market position, pricing power, and consistent earnings growth make it a core holding for institutional portfolios. ONGC’s government backing, dividend yield, and strategic importance provide downside protection that institutions value during uncertainty. BEL’s multi-year order book visibility and policy tailwinds from defense indigenization create earnings predictability that institutional investors prefer.
HCL Tech’s fundamentals support institutional confidence despite sectoral headwinds. The company’s 17.2 percent operating margins, $620 million in annualized AI revenues, and global delivery capabilities across 60 countries provide competitive advantages that differentiate it from peers. While FY27 guidance was cautious at 1-4 percent growth, the company’s track record of execution and strategic positioning in high-growth areas maintains investor confidence.
Valuation Support Provided Downside Protection
During market crashes, stocks with reasonable valuations relative to growth prospects tend to fall less than overvalued peers. The five stocks likely benefited from valuations that appeared attractive relative to their growth trajectories and competitive positions.
Asian Paints trades at premium valuations justified by its market dominance and consistent earnings growth. ONGC’s valuation reflects its government backing and dividend yield rather than pure growth prospects. BEL’s valuation incorporates the structural growth story from defense indigenization and multi-year order visibility.
HCL Tech’s valuation after the IT sell-off likely appeared attractive relative to its AI growth story and margin stability. The stock’s 17.2 percent operating margins and $14.7 billion revenue base provide valuation support even with cautious growth guidance.
What This Means for Investors: Actionable Lessons
Focus on Fundamentals Over Market Sentiment
The most important lesson from these five stocks is that fundamentals ultimately matter more than market sentiment. While the Sensex crashed 675 points driven by panic selling, companies with strong business models, competitive advantages, and visible growth trajectories continued attracting buyers.
Investors should evaluate companies based on their intrinsic business quality rather than market movements. Question whether a company’s competitive position, management quality, and industry tailwinds have fundamentally changed during market volatility. If the answer is no, market crashes may represent buying opportunities rather than selling triggers.
Diversify Across Defensive and Cyclical Sectors
The five gainers spanned defensive sectors (consumer staples, energy, defense) alongside growth sectors (IT services). This diversification highlights the importance of portfolio construction that balances defensive and cyclical exposure. During market crashes, defensive sectors typically outperform, but having exposure to quality growth companies provides recovery participation when markets rebound.
Asian Paints and ONGC represent classic defensive plays with inelastic demand and government backing respectively. BEL combines defensive characteristics (government contracts, strategic importance) with structural growth (defense indigenization). HCL Tech represents growth exposure with defensive elements (diversified client base, AI positioning).
Watch Volume for Confirmation of Institutional Interest
High volume accompanying price increases during market crashes signals institutional accumulation rather than retail momentum. The strong volume in Asian Paints, ONGC, and BEL confirmed that smart money was buying rather than selling.
Investors should monitor volume patterns during volatile sessions. Price increases on low volume may indicate weak conviction and potential reversal, while price increases on high volume suggest institutional confidence and sustainable momentum. This volume-price analysis helps distinguish between genuine outperformance and temporary speculation.
Understand the Difference Between Fundamental Strength and Momentum Trading
Eternal’s inclusion among top 5 gainers demonstrates that not all counter-trend performance reflects fundamental strength. While the stock rose 0.71 percent with impressive volume, its performance likely reflected retail trading dynamics rather than institutional accumulation based on fundamentals.
Investors should distinguish between stocks gaining on fundamental reassessment versus those gaining on momentum trading. Fundamental-driven outperformance tends to be sustainable, while momentum-driven gains may reverse quickly when sentiment shifts. Eternal’s case reminds investors to evaluate the underlying drivers of counter-trend performance.
HCL Tech and Larsen & Toubro’s Broader Resilience Story
While Larsen & Toubro did not feature among the top 5 gainers on January 9 specifically (it actually fell that day alongside most Sensex stocks), L&T has demonstrated resilience in other market downturns, including adding 1.50 percent during the Sensex’s worst week in eight months in September 2025.
L&T’s growth outlook remains supported by a strong order book of ₹7.33 lakh crore and sustained inflows across core EPC businesses. The company’s diversified project exposure across hydrocarbons, renewables, transmission, and infrastructure, combined with emerging opportunities in defense, data centers, and real estate, provides multiple growth levers.
In late January 2026, L&T jumped over 4 percent after its October-December quarter revenue rose 10 percent to ₹71,450 crore, driving broader market recovery. This performance demonstrates L&T’s ability to move independently of broader market trends when company-specific catalysts align.
HCL Tech and L&T represent different models of resilience. HCL Tech’s strength comes from AI positioning and global delivery capabilities, while L&T’s comes from infrastructure execution momentum and India’s capex cycle. Both companies benefit from structural tailwinds that transcend short-term market volatility.
Market Timing vs. Time in Market: The Long-Term Perspective
Market crashes like the January 9 downturn create emotional stress that often leads investors to make poor decisions. The five stocks that bucked the trend demonstrate that staying invested in quality companies through volatility typically outperforms attempting to time market bottoms and tops.
For investors who held Asian Paints, HCL Tech, ONGC, BEL, and similar quality names through the crash, the outcome was protection of capital while peers suffered significant losses. This protection came not from market timing but from fundamental business quality that attracted buyers even during panic selling.
The long-term perspective matters because market crashes are temporary while business fundamentals persist. Indian markets have historically recovered from downturns and created wealth over extended periods. Companies with competitive advantages, strong balance sheets, and visible growth trajectories compound wealth regardless of short-term market volatility.
The Role of Government Policy in Creating Resilient Stocks
Three of the five gainers (ONGC, BEL, and to some extent HCL Tech through AI policy support) benefit from government policy tailwinds that enhance their resilience. ONGC receives implicit government backing as a state-owned enterprise. BEL benefits from defense indigenization policies under Make in India. These policy supports create structural advantages that protect against market downturns.
Government policy in India increasingly favors strategic sectors like defense, energy security, and technology self-reliance. Companies positioned in these sectors benefit from policy tailwinds that provide earnings visibility and competitive advantages. Investors should identify companies benefiting from multi-year policy themes rather than short-term cyclical upturns.
The 51 percent surge in defense stocks from Budget 2025 to 2026 reflects policy-driven structural growth that transcends market cycles. BEL’s inclusion among January 9 gainers demonstrates how policy tailwinds create resilience during market crashes.
Risk Management: What Investors Should Watch
While the five stocks rose during the Sensex crash, investors should not assume this pattern will repeat indefinitely. Several risks warrant monitoring:
Asian Paints faces competition intensification and input cost pressures that could compress margins if crude oil prices remain elevated. HCL Tech’s cautious FY27 guidance of 1-4 percent growth reflects demand uncertainty that could worsen if global IT spending slows further. ONGC’s performance depends on oil price stability and government policy continuity. BEL’s valuation already incorporates significant defense spending growth, leaving limited margin for execution disappointments.
Eternal represents higher risk given its small-cap nature and momentum-driven performance. Investors should be cautious about extrapolating short-term outperformance without fundamental validation.
Diversification remains essential even when holding seemingly resilient stocks. Concentrating portfolios in a few stocks, even quality names, exposes investors to company-specific risks that could materialize regardless of market conditions.
Taking Action on Counter-Trend Opportunities
The January 9, 2026 Sensex crash demonstrated that market-wide panic does not affect all stocks equally. Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, ONGC, BEL, and Eternal rose while the broader market collapsed, revealing fundamental strengths that transcended short-term sentiment.
For investors, the key takeaways are clear. Focus on business fundamentals over market movements, diversify across defensive and cyclical sectors, monitor volume for institutional confirmation, distinguish between fundamental strength and momentum trading, and maintain long-term perspective through volatility. Companies with competitive advantages, strong balance sheets, and visible growth trajectories will continue attracting buyers even during market crashes.
HCL Tech exemplifies how IT companies can buck sectoral weakness through AI positioning and global capabilities. While Larsen & Toubro did not feature among January 9 gainers, its broader resilience story through order book strength and infrastructure execution demonstrates similar principles of fundamental quality overriding market volatility.
Investing in counter-trend winners requires conviction in fundamentals during panic, discipline to avoid emotional decisions, and patience to let business quality compound over time. The five stocks that rose during the Sensex crash prove that such opportunities exist for investors willing to look beyond market noise and focus on what truly matters: the underlying business quality that drives long-term value creation.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only. Stock market information provided here is not investment advice. Investing in the stock market is subject to risks including loss of principal. Always consult your financial advisor before investing.
