The Indian equity markets started the final session of the week on Friday with losses, even as domestic IT stocks showed significant gains. Indian IT stocks stood out against global trends, defying a technology-led selloff in Wall Street triggered by Nvidia’s weaker-than-expected earnings. By 9:20 am, Sensex dropped 346 points to 81,903, and Nifty slipped 113 points to 25,383 during morning trade.
Main broad-cap indices mirrored the benchmark indices, with Nifty Midcap 100 declining by 0.30 percent and Nifty Smallcap 100 losing 0.37 percent. While all sectoral indices traded in the red, Nifty IT surged by 1.56 percent, and consumer durables rose by 0.34 percent. On the other hand, Nifty FMCG and auto sectors experienced losses of 0.59 percent and 0.54 percent, respectively.
Market analysts pointed out that fluctuating oil prices amidst the Middle East crisis are likely to maintain cautious investor sentiment. The ongoing global tech weakness may continue to impact Indian IT stocks, which have already corrected over 20 percent in February due to rising concerns about AI-led disruption.
The immediate resistance zone for Nifty is identified between 25,600 and 25,650, with support observed in the 25,300–25,350 range. Bank Nifty faces resistance in the 61,400–61,500 zone, while the 60,800–60,900 range remains a crucial support area, as highlighted by market participants.
In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index eased by 0.17 percent, Shenzhen dipped by 0.68 percent, Japan’s Nikkei declined by 0.24 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.67 percent. South Korea’s Kospi experienced a loss of 0.77 percent. The US markets closed mostly in the red, with Nasdaq declining by 1.18 percent, the S&P 500 losing 0.54 percent, and the Dow Jones edging up by 0.03 percent.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 3,466 crore on February 26, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 5,032 crore.
