Sensex drops 377 pts; IT shares tumble

Domestic equity indices traded with modest losses in the mid-afternoon trade, weighed down by profit booking, foreign fund outflows and the expiry of F&O contracts on the BSE. Investors stayed cautious as they tracked developments related to the India?US trade deal, ongoing Q3 earnings announcements and geopolitical developments. The Nifty traded below the 25,650 mark.

IT shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 377.34 points or 0.45% to 83,250.35. The Nifty 50 index slipped 96.70 points or 0.37% to 25,637.10.

In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.07% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.17%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,930 shares rose and 2,137 shares fell. A total of 195 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The annual rate of inflation based on the all-India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) increased 0.83% year-on-year in December 2025, compared with a decline of 0.32% in November 2025. Inflation turned positive after three months and marked the fastest pace since April, mainly driven by higher prices of manufactured products.

Inflation in manufactured products accelerated to 1.82% in December 2025 from 1.33% in November 2025, led by an increase in prices of food products, pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemical and botanical products, and cement, lime & plaster. Inflation in food products rose to 0.90% from 0.62%, while prices of pharmaceuticals increased to 1.60% from 1.39% a month earlier. Inflation in cement, lime & plaster stood at 0.30% compared with 0.08% in November.

Food prices remained unchanged in December after declining 2.27% in November, supported by higher prices of milk, fruits, eggs, meat & fish. Meanwhile, inflation in fuel and power remained negative at 2.31% in December 2025 compared with a contraction of 2.27% in November, weighed down by lower prices of LPG, petrol, and high-speed diesel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index dropped 1.48% to 37,668.85. The index rose 0.65% in the past trading session.

Mphasis (down 3.3%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.39%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 2.11%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.73%), Wipro (down 1.59%), Coforge (down 1.50%), Persistent Systems (down 1.31%), LTIMindtree (down 0.96%) and Infosys (down 0.81%) declined.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.23% to 6.642 compared with previous session close of 6.627.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.2100 compared with its close of 90.2300 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2026 settlement rose 0.76% to Rs 143,311.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.01% to 98.91.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.05% to 4.173.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2026 settlement lost 53 cents or 0.81% to $64.94 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ajmera Realty jumped 5.32% after the company reported quarterly sales of Rs 630 crore for Q3 FY26, marking a sharp increase of 123% compared with sales of Rs 270 crore recorded in Q3 FY25.

Just Dial fell 1.54% after the company reported 10.2% decline in net profit to Rs 118 crore despite a 6.4% rise in operating revenue to Rs 305.7 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

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