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India's benchmark equity indices ended the session and the week on a higher note on Friday as strength in financial and energy stocks outweighed continued losses in information technology. The BSE Sensex added 316.57 points or 0.38% to settle at 82,814.71 and the Nifty 50 gained 0.5% to close at 25,571.25. Intraday, both blue-chip indices gained 0.8%.
IT stocks posted a fourth consecutive week of losses, triggered by advances in artificial intelligence platforms like Anthropic's Claude.
The broader markets were mixed with midcaps remaining in the green zone and smallcaps falling.
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The Indian rupee ended 31 paise weaker at 90.986 against the dollar. INR worst performer today among Asian peers.
For the week, the local currency depreciated 0.4%, after two weeks of strength.
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Polycab, Federal Bank and L&T are among the key gainers in today's trading session. Polycab has surged to a 52-week high of Rs 7,879.5, rising 1.31%. Federal Bank was up 1.5% to touch a yearly high of Rs 292.6, whereas L&T also clocked a 52-week high of Rs 4,379 apiece, surging 2.31%.
E2E Networks enters pact with L&T-Vyoma for GPU Cloud Infra.
Source: Exchange filing
At a time of endured volatility and constant FII selling, India's equity markets could be poised for potential outperformance, which will be driven by a recovery in the earnings cycle and favourable domestic liquidity, according to Siddharth Vora, head of quant investment strategies at PL Asset Management.
Speaking to NDTV Profit, Vora offered his thoughts on the ongoing market movements, noting high crude prices, geopolitical tensions and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook, all of which have pressured short-term sentiment. However, he believes India's medium-term structural drivers remain intact.
European markets edged higher Friday, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.3% at 6,070 and the Stoxx Europe 600 gaining 0.2% to 627, as investors awaited flash PMI data from major economies.
Kishore Patil, managing director of KPIT Technologies, told NDTV Profit that the company is seeing a much more positive environment across its business. He said that KPIT will require fewer people to sustain growth in the future, as productivity and technology-led efficiencies continue to rise.
Patil added that the company’s partnership with Microsoft will help take KPIT’s solutions to a larger number of clients. He said the two companies are jointly tapping the market, strengthening outreach and accelerating adoption.
According to him, integrating AI within engineering companies will be more complex than in other industries, given the depth of domain knowledge required. Patil also noted that software represents only one part of the entire supply chain, and true transformation requires coordination across multiple layers of engineering, manufacturing and technology.
The Indian rupee is down 30 paise against the dollar, the sharpest intraday decline since Feb. 6
Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director and Country Head of ABB India, along with CFO TK Sridhar, told NDTV Profit that local demand is expanding at a faster pace than export markets. They noted that exports currently contribute about 10-12% of ABB India’s total revenue.
The executives said they do not foresee any supply‑side constraints affecting the company’s existing order backlog. They added that competitive intensity in the market is expected to improve, which should support healthier industry dynamics.
Sharma highlighted that ABB India supplies a large volume of power solutions to data centres, a segment that continues to scale rapidly. They believe that a strong project pipeline, coupled with rising customer expectations, will further drive growth for the company.
They also observed a robust return of growth across several business segments. However, they pointed out that the market had slowed down at the beginning of 2025 before showing signs of recovery.
The SEBI has issued a show-cause notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and its leadership, reviving allegations of fund diversion and governance lapses that derailed its planned merger with Sony Pictures Networks India, Bloomberg News reported.
The Mumbai-based broadcaster said it will respond formally to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Economic Times earlier reported the notice targets both the company and its chairman and chief executive officer, following a multi-year probe into Zee's internal financial dealings.
Shares of Zee fell over 2% intraday.
The India-US trade deal will be signed in March, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told media in New Delhi today. The deal will likely come into force in April. Indian negotiators will be finalizing legal details regarding the recently announced trade deal starting Monday, Bloomberg News reported. The discussions will continue until Wednesday.
Moreover, Goyal said India and Israel will start FTA talks next week.
Japanese stocks ended lower on Friday, snapping a two-day rally as escalating US-Iran tensions dampened risk appetite.
Vijayaraghavan Swaminathan, Managing Director and Head of Research at Avendus Spark Institutional Equities, told NDTV Profit that the firm is actively looking for companies that are in the midst of pivoting or transforming their business models. He said that the IT sector consistently emerges as a winner after every transformation cycle, noting that the industry has undergone four major transitions in the past two decades.
According to Swaminathan, the risk of earnings downgrades is largely behind the market now. He highlighted that almost half of the companies in the BSE 500 index have delivered earnings growth of around 15%, reflecting strong breadth in the overall earnings performance. He also pointed out that earnings downgrades have moderated, while FY26 earnings estimates have seen marginal upgrades.
Swaminathan added that hospitals, as a sector, are looking increasingly attractive, with earnings visibility improving. He said that valuations have eased slightly over the past 40–45 days, adding to the investment appeal. In addition, he noted rising optimism in consumer companies over the last few quarters, supported by improving demand trends.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond rose 5 basis points to 6.725%.
The Reserve Bank of India will sell Rs 33,000 crore of bonds via auctions today.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Friday said that a potential meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump will take place “at the right moment.” Speaking to news agency ANI on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit, Gor said, “Stay tuned, I'm sure it'll happen at the right moment,” when asked about the likelihood of a Modi–Trump meeting.
He also said in a later press conference that the trade deal signing will happen soon.
The Nifty 50 has hit the resistance mark of 25,600.
According to Hitesh Tailor, research analyst at Choice Broking, the daily chart formed a strong bearish candle in the previous session, "Technically, resistance is placed at 25,600–25,650," Tailor said.
The 200-day extended-moving average, placed near 25,200, is today's crucial short-term support zone, according to Bajaj Broking. "On the downside, immediate supports are seen at 25,350 and 25,000, which may act as key cushions in case of further weakness. On the upside, resistance is placed at 25,650, followed by 25,720, where any pullback is likely to face selling pressure," the brokerage said.
JSW Cement Ltd., ICICI Asset Management Co., Lenskart Ltd. are among companies that have drawn commentary from top brokerages on Friday. Investec and Motilal Oswal have initiated a buy rating on JSW Cement and Lenskart, respectively.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services has initiated coverage on Lenskart Solutions with a ‘Buy' rating and a target price of Rs 600, implying a potential upside of about 27% from current levels. The brokerage expects the eyewear retailer's vertically integrated model, omnichannel scale, and strong store economics to drive sustained revenue and profitability growth over the medium term.
Shares of ABB India Ltd surged in Friday's session after the company released a strong set of financial results for the quarter ended December 2025. The stock was trading 6.65% higher at Rs 6,100 on the NSE, extending gains from its previous close of Rs 5,719.50.
The company registered its highest Q4 order intake in five years, soaring 52% to Rs 4,096 crore.
Vishal Thakkar, Deputy CFO at Anupam Rasayan India, told NDTV Profit that the worst phase for the agrochemical industry is now behind them. He said the company expects demand to continue strengthening further in the coming quarters.
Thakkar added that Anupam Rasayan anticipates strong revenue growth following the acquisition of Jayhawk, and noted that the company sees significant synergies with Jayhawk Fine Chemicals. With this acquisition, the company’s U.S. portfolio has become much stronger.
He also mentioned that Tanfac is witnessing robust revenue growth due to improved supply chain conditions. According to him, organic growth has been favourable, except for the past two years, which were impacted by industry-wide challenges.
India will join the Pax Silica — a US-led strategic alliance launched in December 2025 to secure the global AI and semiconductor supply chain and reduce dependence on non-aligned nations.
At the signing ceremony of the Pax Silica Declaration between India and the US, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, says, "Pax Silica focuses on making sure that the supply chains are safe and secure and encourages greater commercial partnerships across key technologies. So let me congratulate the US and India on this historic moment. Alongside the recent trade agreement, this will lay a strong foundation for a robust US-India tech partnership for many years to come."
Gaudium IVF and Women Health has launched its initial public offering today. The New Delhi-based In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment provider aims to raise Rs 165 crore from the primary market through its IPO.
Ahead of the launch of the Gaudium IVF and Women Health IPO, here's a look at the latest grey market premium (GMP), offer size, price band and other key details.
The Nifty and Sensex are sailing on choppy waters this morning, swinging between gains and losses. An hour into trade, the Nifty 50 has moved 0.3% on both sides of the line.
ICICI Bank, L&T and BEL have added the most points to the Nifty, while Infosys and Bharti Airtel have dropped.
All defence stocks rose during early trade on Friday. Data Patterns jumped 7%, Ideaforge gained 5% and PSU majors GRSE and Bharat Dynamics popped 3%.
The Nifty Defence Index was up as much as 1.9%.
HCLTech has joined other Indian IT players to announce tie-up with top chipmaker Nvidia.
The company unveiled VisionX 2.0, an upgraded version of its multi-modal AI edge platform, with Nvidia. This platform delivers real-time intelligence, enhanced safety and operational efficiency at scale for mission critical industrial environments.
It harnesses the NVIDIA physical AI computing stack, including NVIDIA Blueprint for video search and summarization (VSS), NVIDIA DeepStream, NVIDIA Cosmos Reason VLM and NVIDIA TAO for post-training vision models for unparalleled peęormance.
The rupee opened about 26 paise lower on Friday, reflecting a combination of global dollar strength and cautious risk sentiment.
Harshal Dasani, business head at INVAsset PMS, attributed the decline to firm US bond yields and renewed demand for the dollar in offshore markets that put early pressure on emerging market currencies, including the rupee.
"Additionally, mild uptick in crude prices and intermittent foreign fund outflows added to the weakness at the open. While the Reserve Bank of India is expected to closely monitor volatility and smooth excessive moves, near-term currency direction will largely depend on global dollar momentum and cross-border flows rather than domestic fundamentals alone," he said.
Most IT stocks led by Persistent Systems fell during early session. Infosys dragged the most on the benchmark Nifty 50.
The Nifty IT index extended decline to a third straight session, falling as much as 1.6%.
The India VIX, the fear gauge of the NSE that measures volatility in the market, jumped 7%.
India's benchmark equity indices fell on Friday, taking weak cues from Asian peers amid US-Iran tensions and resumption of FPI outflows from local shares.
The Nifty 50 fell nearly 50 points to 25,404 and the BSE Sensex dropped 230 points to 82,272.
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The yield of the benchmark 10-year government bond rose 2 basis points to 6.70%.
The rupee opened 26 paise weaker at 90.94 against the greenback. The dollar index is up 0.2%. The INR is the worst performing currency in Asia today.
Novartis AG is exiting Novartis India by selling its entire 70.68% stake in the company. The transaction involves the sale of around 1.74 crore shares to a consortium of investors led by US private equity firm ChrysCapital.
As the acquisition involves a controlling stake, a mandatory open offer will be triggered, allowing public shareholders an opportunity to sell their shares.
Gold and silver rates in India fell on Friday. The gold rate in India on Friday is Rs 1,55,070 per 10 gms while the silver rate is Rs 2,42,520 per 1 kg, according the Bullions website.
In the international market, spot silver was trading 1.03% higher at $77.97 per ounce, while gold was quoted marginally higher at $ 4,991.24 per ounce, reports PTI.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose toward 98 on Friday and was poised for a roughly 1% gain on the week, supported by robust US economic data and hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve.
ABB India Q4 Results (Consolidated, YoY)
CIE Automotive Q3 (Consolidated, YoY)
The comeback in US equities from last week's artificial intelligence jitters petered out on Thursday as tensions with Iran put traders on edge. The S&P 500 index declined 0.3%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index slid 0.4% and Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%.
Eight of the 11 S&P sectors finished in negative territory, with financials, consumer discretionary, and technology shares leading the losses.
Asian equities fell as escalating tensions in Iran weighed on sentiment. Benchmarks in Japan and Australia declined while Korean stocks held up. Markets reopened in Hong Kong after the Lunar New Year holidays, while those for mainland China remained shut.
The GIFT Nifty, a futures contract based on the benchmark Nifty 50, is trading 0.15% higher at above 25,400 points.
The Nifty and Sensex indices snapped a three-day gaining streak to log their worst single day since Feb. 1 in the previous session. The Nifty 50 ended 400 points or 1.5% lower at 25,454 and the Sensex dropped over 1,200 points or 1.5% to 82,498. Mid and small cap gauges sunk too.
All 16 sectoral gauges compiled by the NSE traded lower, led by the NSE Nifty Realty Index's 2.5% fall. Media, auto, FMCG, defence closed over 2% lower. The market breadth was firmly tilted in favour of sellers. Nearly 2,900 stocks declined and about 1,200 shares advanced on BSE.
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