The SENSEX fell as much as 625 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,213. However, benchmarks staged a mild recovery in noon deals as buying emerged in State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC and Reliance Industries.
The SENSEX ended 297 points lower at 82,270 and NIFTY50 index declined 98 points to close at 25,320.65.
Asian markets ended lower following a mixed trend overnight in the US markets after US President Donald Trump endorsed a bipartisan deal to avert a fresh government shutdown and said he has decided who he will nominate to lead the Federal Reserve, news agency Reuters reported.
Japan’s Nikkei ended unchanged, China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.96%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index declined 0.65%.
Sectoral landscape
Seven out of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower. NIFTY Metal index was top sectoral loser, the index plunged over 5% to close at 11,827.55 as investors turned to profit booking in recently outperforming metal shares.
NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, IT, Private Bank and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.5%-1.03%.
On the flipside, FMCG, media, auto, realty, consumer durables and healthcare shares witnessed buying interest.
Broader markets ended mixed as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 0.2% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.32%.
Among the individual shares, Blue Star shares rose nearly 5% after company said that it expects a strong March quarter for room air conditioner business.
“The Company expects Q4FY26 to be a strong quarter for Room Air conditioners, Commercial Air Conditioning and Refrigeration products. In Electro-Mechanical Project Business, the demand from Factories & Datacenter vertical continues to be healthy. In anticipation of robust growth in FY2027 the Company is focused on expanding distribution reach and continues to invest in R&D, manufacturing and digitalization, while persisting with cost optimization measures,” Blue Star said.
NIFTY50 top gainers and losers
Hindalco was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 6% to close at ₹963 as investors booked profit in metal shares.
Tata Steel, Coal India, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel and Power Grid also fell between 1.75%-4.81%.
On the other hand, Nestle was top gainer in the NIFTY50 basket of shares, the stock rose 3.46% to close at ₹1,332 after it reported a 46.23% increase in its standalone net profit at ₹1,018.06 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2025.
The company had posted a post-tax profit of ₹696.13 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Standalone revenue from operations in the third quarter stood at ₹5,667.04 crore, up 18.56% compared to ₹4,779.73 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.
Tata Consumer Products, Apollo Hospitals, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Titan, Bharat Electronics and Eicher Motors also rose between 1%-2.2%.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,829 shares ended higher while 1,325 closed lower on the National Stock Exchange.