NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on February 5

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Thursday, February 5, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad fell 28 points to 25,821 amid weak cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for a third straight session on Wednesday, February 4, powered by gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro and Trent.

However, gains were capped owing to selling pressure in IT heavyweights like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra after Anthropic's latest AI offering raised concerns about the future of technology companies, analysts noted.

The SENSEX ended 79 points higher at 83,818 and NIFTY50 index advanced 48 points to close at 25,776.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading lower on Thursday s concerns about the exploding costs of AI investment hounded the tech sector, news agency Reuters reported.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.66%, South Korea's KOSPI declined 3.3%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 1.5%.

Wall Street update

US stocks ended lower on Wednesday as selloff in technology shares continued for a second straight session.

Advanced Micro Devices dropped 17.3% even though the chip company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a forecast for revenue for the start of 2026 that topped analysts’ expectations, but that may not have been enough for investors after its stock had doubled over the last 12 months, AP reported.

S&P 500 index declined 0.51%, Dow jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% and tech heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.5%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth ₹30 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹250 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

Stocks to watch

The company's Q4 2025 revenue came in line with estimates at $5,333 million, increasing 4.9% year-on-year from $5,082 million in Q4, 2024.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had recently said negotiations between India and Chile for an FTA would be concluded soon, and the pact would provide greater access to critical minerals for domestic businesses.

Chile has large reserves of lithium, copper, rhenium, molybdenum and cobalt, which are key inputs for sectors such as electronics, automobiles and solar energy.

In a regulatory filing, CIL said it will hold 100% equity in the proposed intermediate holding company in Chile. The incorporation will be subject to regulatory approvals from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the Ministry of Coal.

The company's standalone profit after tax (PAT) in the December quarter of FY25 was ₹118.2 crore, Transport Corporation of India (TCI) said.

The revenue for the quarter rose 9.3% to ₹1,113.2 crore from ₹1,042.2 crore in Q3 FY25, it added.

"Quarter 3 reflected the inherent seasonality of the logistics business, supported by festive-led demand, which led to positive traction across automotive, FMCG and MSME-driven integrated logistics solutions. While the initial phase of GST 2.0 led to short-term disruption, the subsequent clarity resulted in a sharp pickup in movements, particularly in finished goods and inventory rebalancing," TCI Managing Director Vineet Agarwal said.

The healthcare firm reported a profit of ₹143 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations rose to ₹1,121 crore during the reporting quarter as against ₹943 crore in the same period last year, Global Health said in a regulatory filing.

Profit after tax was impacted by Noida hospital depreciation and finance costs in addition to initial operating losses, it added.

The company reported a net profit of ₹337 crore in the October-December period of the last fiscal year.

Revenue from operations rose to ₹7,743 crore for the third quarter, as against ₹6,928 crore logged in the year-ago period, Apollo Tyres said in a statement.

"India recorded its best quarterly performance to date, driven by strong growth across replacement, exports and OEM channels," Apollo Tyres Chairman Onkar Kanwar said in a statement.

"Our European operations also performed in line with the broader market. Encouragingly, demand momentum remains healthy, and we expect this trajectory to be sustained going forward," he added.

The memorandum of understanding outlines a strategic collaboration for the joint development and manufacturing of electric buses and defence vehicles tailored for Indonesia's growing mobility and national security requirements, the Chennai-headquartered firm said in a statement.

The partnership aims to leverage Ashok Leyland's global expertise in commercial EV platforms and defence mobility solutions together with Pindad's deep engineering capabilities, local manufacturing strength, and longstanding contribution to Indonesia's defence ecosystem, it added.

It had recorded a consolidated net profit of ₹40.5 crore in the year-ago period, a company statement said.

The revenue from operations rose to ₹1,257.02 crore in the quarter from ₹518.2 crore a year ago.

Its CEO, Prashant Mathur, said Q3 FY26 was a strong quarter for Saatvik Green Energy, with revenues reaching ₹1,257.02 crore, driven by robust demand for solar modules, high-capacity utilisation and continued traction from repeat customers.

Operational performance remained robust, with capacity utilisation at 81 per cent during the quarter, he added.

Trade setup

On the technical charts, the NIFTY50 closed above the 20 EMA level for the second consecutive session, indicating strong buying interest at the higher levels despite sharp gains on Tuesday. Experts believe the 20 EMA level of 25,648 remains a crucial support for the index in the near future.

On the options data front, the 26,000 calls hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong resistance for the weekly expiry on 11 Feb. On the downside, the 25,500 puts hold the highest open interest, indicating a strong support for the index.