The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Friday, February 6, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad fell 106 points to 25,619 amid weak cues from Asian markets.
Indian benchmark indices closed in the red on Thursday ahead of the crucial RBI monetary policy outcome on Friday. The markets traded lower as traders opted to cash in on recent gains. Besides, metal stock came under pressure, with BSE Metal declining 1.02%, amid a fall in global metal prices and a stronger US dollar. Further, investors sought more clarity on India-US bilateral trade deal.
The NIFTY50 ended at 25,642.80, down by 133.20 points or 0.52% and Sensex ended at 83,313.93, down by 503.76 points or 0.60%.
Here are key things to know before market opens:
Asian markets
Asian markets were trading lower on Friday as tech selloff on Wall Street intensified on fears that new AI models may start to hamper profits of software companies.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.6%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.9%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index plunged 1.76% while Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.45%.
Wall Street update
The tech stocks continued to rattle the US markets for the third consecutive session, with NASDAQ closing nearly 1.4% lower on Thursday. The S&P500 and Dow Jones also fell 1.2% each as investors turned cautious over the broader economic sentiment of the country.
Additionally, the macroeconomic data for employment also disappointed the markets. The US Job openings fell to their lowest level since 2020, and the jobless claims rose more than expected as employers announced the largest job cuts since 2009.
FII/DII activity
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹2,151 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹1,130 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.
The FIIs have so far this month purchased shares worth ₹9,442 crore, data compiled by the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.
Stocks to watch
Rate sensitive stocks: Interest rate sensitive banking, real estate, financial services and auto shares will remain in focus as Reserve Bank of India will announce its monetary policy decision later in the day.
The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, is widely expected to maintain the status quo on interest rates when it announces its bi-monthly monetary policy decision on Friday, February 6.
Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel, the country’s second largest telecon company, on Thursday reported net profit of ₹6,630 crore in the third quarter of current financial year, marking a decline of 55% from ₹14,781 crore in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, Bharti Airtel’s profit declined 2.4% from ₹6,792 crore in the previous quarter.
Bharti Airtel’s operating profit also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at ₹31,144 crore and EBITDA margin stood at 57.7%.
Bharti Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric of profitability of a telecom company, improved to ₹259 per user per month from ₹245 in the year-ago period.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles: Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) reported a consolidated net loss of ₹3,486 crore in the December quarter compared with a net profit of ₹5,406 crore in the year-ago period.
Its revenue from operations dropped 26% to ₹70,108 crore as against ₹94,472 crore in the year-ago period.
On a standalone basis, Tata Motors net loss came in at ₹233 crore in Q3FY26 compared with a net profit of ₹1,471 crore in the same period last year.
The loss came on account of sharp jump in purchase of raw materials as cost of materials consumed jumped 92% to ₹10,603 crore from ₹5,517 crore in the year-ago period.
Hindustan Copper: Hindustan Copper, the Miniratna Category-I CPSE under the Ministry of Mines reported a 148.49% rise in its consolidated net profit at ₹156 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 (Q3 FY26).
The company, which is India’s only vertically integrated copper producer, had reported a PAT of ₹62.87 crore in the year-ago period.
Its revenue from operations came in at ₹687.34 crore, up 109.7% against ₹327.77 crore logged in the December quarter of FY25.
LIC: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported its earnings for the third quarter of the 2025-26 financial year (Q3FY26), posting a 17.46% year-on-year (YoY) surge in its consolidated net profit to ₹12,930.44 crore.
In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, it logged a profit of ₹11,008.65 crore, the country’s largest insurer said in a regulatory filing.
Its net premium income increased 17.76% YoY to ₹1.26 lakh crore during the quarter under review, compared to ₹1.07 lakh crore in the December quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year (Q3FY25).
The PSU’s first-year premium stood at ₹10,648.46 crore in Q3FY26, reflecting a 45.2% YoY rise from ₹7,333.59 crore in the year-ago period.
Hero MotoCorp: The country’s largest two-wheeler maker on Thursday posted a 15% increase in consolidated profit after tax at ₹1,275 crore in the third quarter ended December 2025, aided by robust sales across domestic and export markets.
Hero MotoCorp reported profit after tax (PAT) of ₹1,108 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal.
Revenue from operations rose to ₹12,487 crore in the third quarter as compared to ₹10,260 crore in the year-ago period, Hero MotoCorp said in a regulatory filing.
The company said it sold 16.97 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters in the latest third quarter as against 14.64 lakh units in the same period of last fiscal, a growth of 16%.
Indian Oil Corporation: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) reported a multifold surge in its third-quarter net profit, as gains in refining and marketing margins offset weakness in the petrochemicals segment.
Its standalone net profit of ₹12,125.86 crore in the December quarter of FY26, compared with ₹2,873.53 crore it logged in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
Refining margins surged on low prices of crude oil, the raw material IOC uses to make fuels like petrol and diesel. Fuel sales also rose 5% in the quarter.
Without giving quarterly numbers, IOC said it earned $8.41 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during April-December 2025 against a cross-refining margin of $3.69 per barrel.
The company, which sells domestic cooking gas at government-controlled rates, accounted for 2,414.34 crore in subsidy receipts.
The government had, in October last year, approved a one-time compensation to cover losses IOC and other state-owned fuel retailers suffered on selling LPG at below market price. For IOC, Rs 14,486 crore of subsidy to be paid in 12 equal monthly instalments was approved, starting from November 2025.
Trade setup
On the technical front, the NIFTY50 held the 20 EMA level on daily charts for the third consecutive session, indicating bulls holding the ground against the bearish pressure. The experts believe the index should hold the 20 EMA for bouncing back to 25,800 levels.
On the options data front, 26,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for the weekly expiry. The downside looks protected at 25,500, with the respective strike price puts holding the highest open interest.