February Market Fallout: Nifty's Longest Losing Streak Since 1996 And FMCG's Worst Fall In 18 Years

Indian equities had a brutal February, with over 450 of the Nifty 500 stocks closing in the red. The NSE Nifty 50 tumbled for the fifth consecutive month — the longest losing streak since November 1996, dragging all sectoral indices into the negative territory. The index slipped nearly 6% this month.

In February so far, the FPIs have net offloaded equities worth Rs 35,694 crore, according to the National Securities Depository Ltd.'s data. This was preceded by net selling of Rs 78,027 crore in January. In 2025 so far, they have net sold equities worth Rs 1.13 lakh crore, the NSDL data showed.

Realty and IT stocks bore the brunt. The Nifty Realty index posted its worst month since the Covid crash of March 2020, falling 13.4% to 797.90.

The index closed 1.41% lower on Friday, with the Phoenix Mills Ltd. and Sobha Ltd. the only gainers in the index.

The Nifty IT recorded its steepest fall in 35 months. The selloff came after tech stocks in the US took a beating following Nvidia Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings and commentary that failed to enthuse investors accustomed to sporadic AI-fuelled gains. The Jensen Huang-led chipmaker sank 8.5%.

The index has been falling for seven straight sessions as heavy selling in technology stocks continued, amid concerns over a slowing US economy, which piles pressure on domestic software exporters. IT companies dragged the Nifty by over 380 points in February.

Tech Mahindra Ltd. was the top loser, with the stock down 6.32% on Friday. Wipro Ltd. and Mphasis Ltd. shares also fell over 5%

The Nifty FMCG index logged its longest-ever monthly losing streak in 18 years. The index slipped 10.59% in February, and ended 2.62% lower on Friday, with Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Tata Consumer Products Ltd. and Britannia Industries Ltd. leading the fall.

Companies in this space have posted subdued earnings, with top heavyweights reporting marginal profit expansion in the third quarter. Nestle India recorded a 5% rise in profit, Tata Consumer reported flat earnings and Britannia Industries posted a 4.6% increase in profit.