Benchmarks trade flat during late afternoon deals

Benchmarks were hovering near the unchanged lines, with Sensex and Nifty trading flat during late afternoon deals. Some profit booking has weighed on markets as traders opted to cash in on recent gains made by the markets. Meanwhile, IT stocks saw significant selling pressure amid weak US retail sales data and ahead of release of US jobs data. However, downside remained capped as the unemployment rate in India declined marginally to 6.7% in October-December 2025 from 6.9% in the previous quarter. On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading higher despite softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. European equity markets were trading mostly in red as investors digested mixed earnings results and awaited key U.S. jobs and inflation readings for direction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84222.47, down by 51.45 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 84081.25 and 84487.34. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.40%, Healthcare up by 1.12%, Telecom up by 0.61%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.47% and PSU up by 0.37%, while IT down by 1.52%, TECK down by 0.87%, Power down by 0.38%, Capital Goods down by 0.26% and Industrials down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.62%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.62%, Interglobe Aviation up by 1.18%, Reliance Industries up by 0.60% and Trent up by 0.41%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.24%, Infosys down by 1.55%, HCL Technologies down by 1.02%, ITC down by 0.92% and Titan Company down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian corporates are raising more funds from foreign sources to finance expansion, projects, or other financial needs, as the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest data report has showed that India's total External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) stood at $4.43 billion in December 2025.

The data report stated that out of the total, $3.12 billion was through the automatic route and $1.31 billion through the approval route. Manufacturing, financial services, and transportation sectors accounted for a significant share of the borrowings.

The companies that mopped up big-ticket funds included Power Finance Corporation ($500 million), Interglobe Aviation ($464 million), Export-Import Bank of India ($350 million), Aditya Birla Capital and Indian Oil Corporation ($300 million each), and Indian Railway Finance Corporation ($299.51 million).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25944.80, up by 9.65 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 25899.80 and 26009.40. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 6.36%, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise up by 4.13%, SBI up by 3.60%, Max Healthcare Inst up by 3.05% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.63%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.40%, Coal India down by 2.18%, Infosys down by 1.52%, HCL Technologies down by 1.12% and Eternal down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 532.74 points or 1.59% to 33,605.71, Hang Seng advanced 57.85 points or 0.21% to 27,241.00, KOSPI increased 52.80 points or 0.99% to 5,354.49, Jakarta Composite gained 137.86 points or 1.67% to 8,269.60, Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.61 points or 0.09% to 4,131.98 and Straits Times rose 11.65 points or 0.23% to 4,975.90.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 33.38 points or 0.4% to 8,294.50 and Germany’s DAX lost 34.45 points or 0.14% to 24,953.40, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 20.61 points or 0.2% to 10,374.45.