Market snaps 3-day rally as Sensex drops 504 points, Nifty slips below 25,700

The equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended lower on Thursday (February 5), snapping a three-day gaining streak, with both the Sensex and Nifty declining more than 0.5%. Weakness across heavyweight stocks and losses in IT shares weighed on overall market sentiment.

The Sensex fell 504 points to close at 83,314, while the Nifty declined 133 points to settle at 25,643, slipping below the 25,700 mark. Benchmark indices underperformed broader markets, with selling pressure visible across most sectors.

From the Sensex basket, Trent Ltd, Max Healthcare Institute Ltd, Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Jio Financial Services Ltd, State Bank Of India and Bajaj Auto Ltd were the major gainers.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd, ITC Ltd and Bajaj Finserv Ltd were the biggest laggards.

Out of the 50 stocks on the Nifty index, 30 ended the session in the red. Hindalco, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, BEL and SBI Life emerged as the top losers among Nifty constituents. Banking stocks also saw pressure, with the Nifty Bank index falling 175 points to close at 60,064.

The broader market mirrored the weak trend. The midcap index declined 167 points to 59,517. Market breadth remained tilted towards declines, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 1:2.

Despite the overall weakness, select stocks posted strong gains. Trent emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty index, rising 3% after reporting its Q3 results. Page Industries climbed nearly 4% following its quarterly earnings, while IOC gained nearly 2% after reporting a more than 59% quarter-on-quarter rise in Q3 net profit. Cummins India advanced 5% as the company indicated strong growth in its data centre business.

IT stocks extended their losses, with Mphasis, Infosys and Coforge declining over 1% each, adding to the pressure on benchmark indices.

In the midcap space, PB Fintech was the top gainer, surging 8% after the company cancelled its board meeting that was scheduled to consider a qualified institutional placement.

On the downside, Tube Investments emerged as the top midcap loser, falling 10% after its Q3 results. Among other notable movers, Hindustan Zinc slipped 5% as silver prices fell 11%, adding to weakness in metal stocks.