The key benchmark indices ended the final trading session of February with sharp losses, dragged down by heavyweights, even as the sell-off in tech stocks paused. The weak handover from Wall Street, coupled with rising crude oil prices amid a lack of clarity over US-Iran talks, has also weighed on sentiment.
Consequently, the Nifty 50 dropped 1.3% to the 25,166 level, and the Sensex tanked 1.14% to 81,307. The broader markets, too, faced heavy losses, with both the Nifty Midcap 100 index and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index falling over 1.3%.
The Nifty 50 heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, and SBI fell between 0.64% and 1.5%.
In terms of sector-wise, the Nifty Realty was the top laggard, falling 2.27%, while the Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Metal all sank over 1.5%.
On the upside, the Nifty Media closed up 0.65%, followed by the Nifty Chemicals, which rose 0.11%. The Nifty IT largely remained unchanged.
While domestic factors remain in favour of bulls, AI disruption fears, uncertainty over US trade policy, and heightened concerns in the Middle East have all led the Nifty 50 to register a 0.60% drop in February, extending its losing run to a third straight month.
On the geopolitical front, the latest round of US-Iran talks did not lead to a breakthrough, with both sides agreeing to extend negotiations, supporting higher crude oil prices.
