NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on February 12

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Thursday, February 12, as indicated by the NIFTY futures traded at Gift City in Ahmedabad. NIFTY futures at Gift City declined 33 points to 25,961.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended on a mixed note on Wednesday, February 11, as losses in Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were offset with gains in State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance.

The SENSEX ended 40 points lower at 84,234 and NIFTY50 index advanced 19 points to close at 25,954.

Asian markets

Asian stocks surged to a record high while the dollar firmed against most currencies except the yen after stronger-than-expected US jobs data dented near-term rate cut expectations, setting the stage for the inflation report on Friday, news agency Reuters reported.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.03%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.05%, South Korea's KOSPI surged 2.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.95%.

Wall Street update

The US markets ended mixed on Wednesday after the economy added 1,30,000 jobs in January. The better-than-expected reading on non-farm payrolls boosted the markets at the beginning of the session, but gains were short-lived, as the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower, while the NASDAQ gained 0.3% on Wednesday.

The investor sentiment soured after major revisions in the previous year’s jobs data. The 2025 non-farm payrolls were revised downwards to 1,81,000 from 5,84,000 reported earlier. This is the weakest reading for the US economy since 2020, when the whole economy was shut.

The better-than-expected non-farm payroll data boosted the yields higher as it trimmed the bets for rate cuts. The US 10-year yields jumped to 4.2% in the initial reaction to the jobs data, but later closed slightly at 4.18%. The consensus estimates indicate two more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2026.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth ₹944 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth ₹125 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹15,658 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF), Tata MF, Invesco MF, Motilal Oswal MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, WhiteOak Capital MF, and Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd also bought shares of electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy, as per the block deal data available on the BSE and NSE.

These entities purchased a total of 73,33,219 shares on NSE and BSE, representing a combined 1.92% stake in Bengaluru-based Ather Energy.

The shares were acquired at an average price of ₹710 per share, bringing the combined deal value to ₹520.66 crore.

The Kolkata-based manufacturer of railway freight wagons, components, and passenger coach accessories had delivered a PAT of ₹96.4 crore in the third quarter of FY 25.

Total income for the quarter under review stood at ₹900 crore, down 13.9% from ₹1,045 crore in the same period of last year, the company said.

"While wheelset supply has improved from its peak shortage in the first few months of the year, the industry continues to face constraints in the wheelset supply chain affecting wagon production and dispatch cycles, which is expected to continue for the next few quarters till the time our integrated wheelsets plant commences operation, which is expected by the end of the year, thereby helping in securing steady supply and production levels," said Vivek Lohia, Managing Director of Jupiter Wagons Ltd.

The company registered a net profit of ₹233.45 crore during the October-December period a year ago, LG Electronics India Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations stayed almost flat at ₹4,114.4 crore in the December quarter of FY26. It was ₹4,395.53 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

Total expenses of LG Electronics India were ₹4,038.36 crore in the third quarter of FY26, down 2.77% year-on-year.

Patanjali Foods: Patanjali Foods Ltd, which is mainly into edible oils, on Wednesday reported a 60% increase in consolidated net profit at ₹593.44 crore for the December quarter of FY26 on higher income.

Its net profit stood at ₹370.88 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to ₹10,541.12 crore in the quarter from ₹9,020.38 crore a year ago, according to a regulatory filing.

Besides cooking oils, Patanjali Foods sells some other food items as well as consumer goods.

The company had clocked a profit of ₹34.2 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, according to a regulatory filing.

Total revenue from the operations rose 5% to ₹1,106.2 crore for the October-December period of the 2025-26 fiscal year, from ₹1,057.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Expenses remained lower at ₹1,009.1 crore against ₹1,056 crore in the said period.

"In Q3, the revenue from operations grew 5%, led by the continued strength of our corn seeds business," said Simon Wiebusch, Vice Chairman and Managing Director and CEO, Bayer CropScience Ltd.

The company had posted a profit after tax of ₹1.8 crore in the same period a year ago.

The revenue from operations of Lenskart increased 38% to ₹2,308 crore during the reported quarter from ₹1,669 crore seen in the December 2024 quarter.

"Revenue grew 37.4% YoY in the third quarter (Q3) of FY26, driven primarily by volume expansion and new customer addition. India grew 40.4% YoY, while international grew 32.7% YoY, reflecting a compounding platform," the company said in a statement.

In a statement, the company said it has converted Expressions of Interest (EOI) into confirmed bookings for 242 units at its kid-centric residential project, Ashiana Aaroham Phase 1 and Phase 2, in Gurugram.

"The converted bookings account for an approximate saleable area of 5.03 lakh square feet with a total sale value of ₹767.23 crore," it added.

The conversion of EOIs into bookings began on February 7, 2026, and is in progress.

The first two phases of the ongoing project offer 364 apartments.

Novelis added that the estimated timeline to restart the Oswego hot mill is late Q2 calendar 2026. Novelis is working in tight cooperation with customers and leveraging its global presence and external suppliers to mitigate customer impact.

The government has decided to exercise the green shoe option in the Offer for Sale (OFS) and has put the entire 5% stake on the block, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla said on X.

"The offer for sale in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) received an enthusiastic response and was oversubscribed 2.3 times on the first day," Chawla said. Retail investors will get to bid in the OFS on Thursday.

The government will mobilise ₹4,422 crore at a floor price of ₹254 per share by selling 5% of its stake in BHEL.

In a post-earnings media briefing, he also said the company is witnessing a "positive" momentum in auto and e-commerce, while hospitality has had a foreign exchange impact.

On the impact of the FTA, he said, "There has been a lot of conversation around how this will impact us. But there are various European models in India today. And take any of those models – I won't name specific ones – that OEM cannot make in the EU, pay the shipping cost to send it here, bear the inventory cost for that time period, and have it come to India cheaper than what they already have here. So, it doesn't impact us from a comparative standpoint at all."

Its consolidated net profit was ₹148.75 crore in the quarter ended on December 31, 2024, according to a regulatory filing.

The total income of SVJN rose to ₹1,124.47 crore in the quarter under review from ₹760.76 crore in the year-ago period.

Trade setup

On the technical front, the chart setup remains tilted towards bullish setup, with the 20 EMA inching upwards and closer towards a crossing the 50 EMA from below. The medium resistance for the index remains at 26,300, while the 25,650 level remains a crucial support for the market in the post trade deal rally.

On the options data front, the 26,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for the coming weekly expiry. On the flipside, 25,900 puts hold the highest open interest on the downside, indicating a near term support for the index.