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Informist, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Indices likely to fall slightly; outcome of MPC meet in focus

 

MUMBAI--0845 IST--Benchmark equity indices may extend some losses at market open on Friday, tracking negative global cues. The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision later in the day is expected to direct the market movement. Indices may also remain under pressure as foreign investors shift their focus to underlying fundamental concerns about expensive valuations, rupee depreciation, and unimpressive earnings.

 

On the global front, shares of software and data services companies in the US extended their decline overnight as investors were worried that an advancement in artificial intelligence tools could hurt the sector's growth. The American depository receipt of Infosys closed slightly higher, while those of Wipro ended in the red. Benchmark equity indices in the US ended sharply lower on Thursday, weighed down by a fall in technology giants. Most Asian indices mirrored losses on Wall Street, led by South Korea's KOSPI, which was down over 3?ter a fall in heavyweight technology companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, CNBC reported.

 

Back home, brokerages expect the central bank to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and continue to use liquidity management as the primary tool to manage volatility in yields. "We believe the RBI will enter a prolonged pause by maintaining status quo on Friday," JM Financial Services said. 

 

The GIFT Nifty 50 indicates a slightly lower start for the Nifty 50. At 0845 IST, the February contract of GIFT Nifty was at 25631 points, down 12 points from the Nifty 50's previous close. On Thursday, the Nifty 50 index closed at 25642.80 points, down 133.20 points, or 0.5%, and the BSE Sensex closed at 83313.93, down 503.76 points, or 0.6%. "An upside breakout from this range could push the index toward 26100 spot levels. Conversely, sustained trading below 25550 would likely drag it lower toward 25100 to fill the gap created during the Feb 3 rally," Vipin Kumaar, assistant vice-president, technical and derivatives at Globe Capital Market, said.

 

Shares of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Bharti Airtel will be in focus as these companies released their December quarter earnings after market hours on Thursday. Both companies disappointed the market with their weak earnings. Investors will also focus on a slew of December quarter earnings slated for release later in the day. Among Nifty 50 majors, Tata Steel is likely to see a sharp year-on-year rise in its consolidated bottom line for the period.  (Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Most Asian markets down, KOSPI sees volatile week

 

MUMBAI--0822 IST--Equity indices in Asia, barring the Nikkei 225 and the Topix First section indices in Japan, traded lower Friday. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index fell the most. The KOSPI has seen a tumultuous week with the index triggering its buy-side sidecar as well as its

lower-side sidecar during the same week, which prompted markets to halt trading after each session. 

 

Shares of the two largest capitalised companies in the index, Samsung and SK Hynix were down around 1% during the session. Shares of defence heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace Co. was down nearly 4% and weighed on the index. South Korea's market is heavily weighted towards chip and automotive companies that have witnessed sharp swings over the past week due to the sentiment over technology stocks, CNBC reported. Some investors have expressed concerns. However, some experts argue the backdrop of the wild swings lies in the growing sophistication of individual investors in South Korea, The Chosun Daily reported. "Concerns over profitability in AI-related stocks have led investors to repeatedly realise gains, causing the market to swing sharply," Kim Dae-jun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities was reported as saying. 

 

Shares of Japanese pharmaceutical companies went against the grain of the Nikkei and the broader Topix First Section index and were lower during the session. The fall in shares of pharmaceutical companies came after US President Donald Trump's website offering the discounted prescription medications went live, Reuters reported. Trump unveiled TrumpRx.gov after striking deals with 16 of the largest global drugmaking companies for "most-favoured nation" prices for his compatriots in exchange for exemption from US tariffs. Shares of Sumitomo Pharma Co. were down nearly 3% and those of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. fell nearly 2%. 

 

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0820 IST:

 

INDEX	LEVEL	CHANGE IN %
CSI 300 Index	4664.53	(-)0.13
Hang Seng Index	26469.39	(-)1.55
KOSPI	5100.09	(-)1.23
Nikkei 225 Day	54072.53	0.47
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3678.95	0.73
FTSE Singapore Straits Times	4943.48	(-)0.65
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8737.60	(-)1.71
IDX Composite	7980.74	(-)1.52

 

(Akshat Saksena)

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Equity Alert: US indices end lower Thu on fall in tech stocks, jobs data

 

MUMBAI--0742 IST--Equity indices in the US ended lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices recording a fall for a third consecutive session. Shares of software companies continued to weigh on sentiment amid fears of artificial intelligence taking a toll on the software services industry. Jobs data for January added to the pressure on markets. 

 

The S&P 500 software and services index fell 4.6% and shed around $1 trillion in market value since Jan. 28, Reuters reported. Shares of Microsoft fell around 5% owing to the weakness, with those of Sales Force and Service Now ending nearly 5% and 8% lower, respectively. "I would classify this as a sell-everything mindset at this point," Dave Harrison Smith, chief investment officer and head of technology investing at asset management firm Bailard, was reported as saying. Shares of Thomson Reuters Corp. ended nearly 6% lower. This is despite the company, which owns the Westlaw legal database and the Reuters news agency, reporting its results in line with estimates and also announced dividend for the December quarter. "The uncertainty around the eventual impact of AI means near-term earnings results will be important signals of business resilience, but in many cases insufficient to disprove the long-term downside risk," Ben Snider, Goldman Sachs' chief US equity strategist, was reported as saying.

 

The software selloff is part of a wider trend of rotation out of technology stocks and into value-oriented sectors such as consumer staples, energy, and industrials that were struggling in the bull market, which commenced in October 2022, Reuters said. "We're seeing people de-risk from technology in a general way, and we've been seeing that since the beginning of the year," Andrew Wells, chief investment officer at SanJac Alpha in Houston, was reported as saying. The selloff has spread to sectors exposed to the software industry as well, such as asset management companies over concerns that they extend loans without private credit. Shares of Blue Owl, an asset management firm, fell around 4%. 

 

Shares of Alphabet declined nearly 1% as its capital expenditure plans of $185 billion for 2026 raised concerns, but a rise in shares of Broadcom, up nearly 1%, after the announcement of Alphabet's capital expenditure offered hopes for AI traders, CNBC reported. Shares of Qualcomm fell nearly 9% due to a weaker-than-expected forecast owing to the shortage of global memory chips. 

 

Contributing to the sombre environment, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that US employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January, making it the highest total for the month since the global financial crisis. Initial jobs claims for the week rose more than expected as well, along with job openings in December falling to their lowest level since September 2020. This comes prior to the release of the official January jobs report next week, which has been delayed due to the partial government shutdown that ended Tuesday.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Thursday:  

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6798.40	(-)1.23
NASDAQ Composite	22540.59	(-)1.59
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48908.72	(-)1.20

 

(Akshat Saksena)

 

US$1 = INR 90.36

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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