The Indian stock market turned into the green in Friday’s session on February 6 after a range-bound trade, supported by gains in FMCG and select private banking stocks, which helped offset losses in IT, pharma and auto shares.
The Nifty 50 closed 0.20% higher at 25,693, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.32% higher at 83,580. Both benchmark indices finished the week on a strong note, extending their winning streak to a second consecutive week.
Broader markets, however, were mixed. The Nifty Midcap 100 closed flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.30%.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India kept policy interest rates unchanged. At its sixth and final bi-monthly monetary policy review for the current financial year, the central bank decided to retain the repo rate at 5.25% and maintained a neutral stance.
In terms of sector-wise performance, Nifty FMCG led the gainers with a 2.27% surge, while Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Oil & Gas, and Nifty Realty also ended higher, posting gains of up to 1%.
On the downside, Nifty IT emerged as the worst performer, slipping 1.47%, while Nifty Pharma remained under pressure, declining another 0.72%. Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank were also among the laggards, with both indices falling 0.52% each.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said, “Domestic equity markets traded largely subdued through most of the session before staging a late recovery, supported by selective buying in FMCG and private banking stocks. In contrast, the domestic IT sector continued to underperform.”
“The RBI’s policy announcement was broadly in line with expectations, maintaining status quo on interest rates while reiterating a constructive growth outlook. However, markets had anticipated a mildly dovish undertone, which failed to materialise as the RBI retained its neutral stance, resulting in an uptick in India’s 10-year bond yields,” he further added.
Hitachi Energy, Data Patterns and MRF lead gains
Among the top gainers on the day, Hitachi Energy topped the list, with shares closing 14% higher at ₹21,871, driven by the company’s better-than-expected December-quarter performance. Several other stocks also reacted positively to earnings announcements. MRF surged 8.5% to ₹1,46,455, retaining its position as the most expensive stock in the Indian market.
Data Patterns, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Nykaa also logged sharp gains of 8%, 7.4% and 7.24%, respectively, following their December-quarter results. Meanwhile, tobacco stocks staged a strong recovery from the recent sell-off, with Godfrey Phillips and ITC rising 10.4% and 5%, respectively.
Other top performers among Nifty 500 stocks included Siemens Energy India, Poonawalla Fincorp, Schneider Electric Infrastructure, IDBI Bank, Amber Enterprises, Muthoot Finance, Finolex Cables, Akzo Nobel India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Atul, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), NCC and SBFC Finance, with gains ranging between 3% and 5.5%.
Weak Q3 numbers trigger sell-off in select stocks
While upbeat earnings drove strong gains in select stocks, weaker-than-expected results were severely punished by the Street. Shares of Poly Medicure slid 7.5% to ₹1,389 after the company reported weaker margins in Q3.
BEML also reacted negatively to its numbers, falling 7.4% to ₹1,617 apiece after reporting a net loss of ₹22.4 crore in Q3FY26. Investors also dumped UNO Minda shares following its Q3 results, leading to a 6% crash in the stock.
Extending its decline for the fourth straight session, Aavas Financiers shed another 5.7% to ₹1,301. Select large-cap and mid-cap IT stocks continued to bleed on the exchanges, with eClerx Services, Birlasoft, Hexaware Technologies, Tata Technologies, Coforge and Cyient falling between 3.5% and 7%.
Meanwhile, new-age tech firm PB Fintech also came under pressure, sliding 3% to ₹1,504, a day after rallying 8%.
Disclaimer: We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
