Barometers tumble over 1%; metal shares slide

The key equity benchmarks ended with substantial losses today as sentiment weakened following after US-based artificial intelligence startup Anthropic introduced a tool targeted at corporate legal teams, raising concerns about the long-term implications for outsourcing-driven IT business models. Investors adopted a risk-off approach. Traders will monitor upcoming US CPI data due later today. The Nifty closed below the 25,500 mark.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in red, led by losses in metal, realty, and FMCG shares.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 1,048.16 points or 1.25% to 82,626.76. The Nifty 50 index tanked 336.10 points or 1.30% to 25,471.10.

 

The broader market underperformed the headline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index dropped 1.58% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index slipped 1.50%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,320 shares rose and 2,881 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 13.36% to 13.29.

Buzzing Index:

The Metal index declined 3.42% to 11858.85. The index jumped 3% in the past five trading sessions.

NMDC (down 6.36%), National Aluminium Company (down 5.56%), Hindalco Industries (down 5.53%), Hindustan Copper (down 5.12%), Hindustan Zinc (down 4.95%), Jindal Stainless (down 4.58%), Vedanta (down 4.2%), Welspun Corp (down 3.57%), Adani Enterprises (down 3.29%) and Lloyds Metals & Energy (down 2.95%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Lupin shed 0.50%. The company reported 37.46% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,175.55 crore in Q3 FY26 as against Rs 855.16 crore posted in Q3 FY25. Total revenue from operations jumped 24.26% year-on-year to Rs 7,167.52 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) declined 3.06%. The company reported 1.60% increase in standalone net profit to Rs 8,371.85 crore in Q3 FY2, compared with Rs 8,239.92 crore in Q3 FY25. However, revenue from operations declined 6.43% YoY to Rs 31,546.51 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.

Hindalco Industries tumbled 5.77% after the company reported 45% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,049 crore despite a 14% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 66,521 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

Info Edge (India) fell 1.50%. The company reported a 23.11% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 246.45 crore on 13.85% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 764.55 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Honasa Consumer gained 0.82% after reporting a strong operational and financial performance for the quarter ended 31 December 2025. On a reported basis, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 602 crore in Q3 FY26, up 16.2% YoY from Rs 518 crore in Q3 FY25. Profit after tax stood at Rs 50 crore in Q3 FY26, up 92.9% YoY from Rs 26 crore in Q3 FY25.

Indian Hotels Company declined 1.59%. The company consolidated net profit jumped 55.10% to Rs 903.23 crore on 12.91% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,841.96 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

NIBE tumbled 6.54% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 18.87 crore in Q3 FY26, compared with a net profit of Rs 1.94 crore posted in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations fell 60.3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 59.08 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.

Global Markets:

Most European market advanced as investors awaited U.S. inflation data, due later today.

The Asia-Pacific ended lower Friday, tracking Wall Street declines, as fears over artificial intelligence disruption drove the S&P 500 to a third straight day of losses.

Certain pockets of the U.S. stock market have been hit this year by the release of AI tools that threaten to automate tasks performed by some companiesor at least risk eating into their profit margins.

Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks fell sharply Thursday as the market punished companies seen as potential losers from artificial-intelligence technology.

The S&P 500 fell 108.71 points to 6,832.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 669.42 to 49,451.98, and the Nasdaq Composite sank 469.32 to 22,597.15.

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