NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on February 16

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Monday, February 16, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad dropped 87 points to 25,432 amid subdued cues from Asian markets.

Investors' wealth eroded by ₹7.02 lakh crore in a single day on Friday, February 13, as stock markets faced heavy sell-offs, with the S&P BSE Sensex tumbling 1,048 points due to broad-based selling, especially in metal, IT, and commodity stocks, amid sluggish global markets.

A weaker-than-expected earnings season and emerging pressure on technology stocks amid concerns about AI-led disruption weighed on investor sentiment.

In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE SENSEX tumbled 1,048.16 points, or 1.25%, to close at 82,626.76. During the day, the benchmark tanked 1,140.37 points, or 1.36%, to hit an intraday low of 82,534.55.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading on a subdued note after data from Japan showed that its economy grew 0.1% annualised in the December quarter, far below the 1.6% gain that was expected as the government spending dragged on activity.

The disappointing figures underline the tough task ahead for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and should support her push for more aggressive fiscal stimulus, news agency Reuters reported.

Japan's Nikkei declined 0.11% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.01%.

Markets in China are closed for a week on account of Chinese New Year.

Wall Street update

Selloff in US stocks paused on Friday as a key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low igniting hopes of a rate cut after in a week that was marred by worries about how artificial-intelligence will shape the future of businesses.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, S&P 500 advanced 0.05% and tech heavy Nasdaq declined 0.22%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹7,395 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹5,554 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month bought shares worth ₹19,675 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

The statements and developments will be crucial for the IT sector and will influence investor sentiment going forward.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, the company stated that its consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹487 crore during the quarter under review, compared to a loss of ₹564 crore it logged in the third quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year (Q3FY25).

Its consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹470 crore in Q3FY26, reflecting a 55.02% YoY decline from ₹1,045 crore in the year-ago period. It posted total deliveries of 32,680 units in the third quarter ended December 31, 2025.

The firm posted a 96.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated net profit at ₹210.71 crore during the quarter under review, compared to ₹6,026.11 crore in the December quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year (Q3FY25).

The company’s bottom line fell due to the implementation of the new labour code, as it recorded a one-time impact of ₹42.7 crore and added that the “new labour code resulted in a material increase in provision for employee benefits on account of recognition of past service costs.”

The stock of HUL started trading ex-ice cream business on December 5, 2025. With an entitlement ratio of 1:1, shareholders received one fully paid-up equity share of Kwality Wall’s for every one share of HUL they owned.

Many consumers who had earlier deferred purchases, being fence-sitters due to rising prices, have now shifted strategy, choosing to buy during dips rather than wait indefinitely, he said.

Signature Global Chairman Pradeep Aggarwal expressed confidence that the company will achieve the revised sales bookings target of ₹10,300 crore for the current fiscal.

He also highlighted that construction activities, which were affected in the December quarter due to a ban in view of high pollution levels, have accelerated now across its various projects in Gurugram and that the company expects a sharp increase in revenue recognition during the January-March period.

This is the first major restructuring announced by the company since Burmans took over REL in Feb 2025, the financial services firm said in a statement.