Closing Bell: Sensex falls 558 points, Nifty 50 below 25,900 - Anil Singhvi cites reasons for market decline

The Indian stock market showed signs of weakness on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex closing at 83,674.92, down 558.72 points or 0.66 per cent.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended at 25,807.20, down 146.65 points or 0.57 per cent. Market expert Anil Singhvi said the decline is driven by slow foreign institutional investor (FII) buying and selling pressure in the IT sector.

Top Gainers and Losers

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On Sensex, Bajaj Finance rose 3.17 per cent to 999.80, ICICI Bank gained 1.86 per cent to 1,432.00, and Trent was up 1.52 per cent at 4,284.70. Other gainers included BEL, SBI, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, LT, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel, rising up to 1.43 per cent. UltraTech Cement remained unchanged at 12,970.30.

Among the losers were NTPC, ITC, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Maruti, Adani Ports, Kotak Bank, Indigo, HDFC Bank, Eterna, Reliance, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, and IT stocks. Major IT stocks fell sharply, with Tech Mahindra down 5.99 per cent, Infosys down 5.79 per cent, TCS down 5.41 per cent, and HCL Tech down 4.84 per cent. Other declines ranged from 0.09 per cent to 2.23 per cent.

Nifty Broad Market Indices

On 12 February 2026, broad market indices ended lower. Nifty Next 50 fell 0.43 per cent to 69,916.10, while Nifty Midcap indices declined between 0.45 per cent and 0.50 per cent. Nifty Smallcap indices were down 0.46 per cent to 0.73 per cent. Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500 and other benchmark indices fell between 0.52 per cent and 0.59 per cent.

Sectoral performance was mixed. Nifty Auto declined 0.12 per cent, Nifty Bank was almost flat at -0.01 per cent, and Nifty FMCG fell 0.51 per cent. Financial services indices rose 0.38–0.40 per cent. Realty and Oil & Gas indices fell 1.45 per cent and 1.19 per cent, respectively. Metals were nearly flat, up 0.02 per cent, while Pharma declined 0.21 per cent.

IT Stocks Under Pressure

The IT sector dragged the market lower, with the Nifty IT index falling 5.51 per cent to 33,160.20. Major losses included Tech Mahindra down 6.40 per cent, Coforge down 6.61 per cent, OFSS down 6.35 per cent, Infosys and LTIM down 5.97 per cent each, TCS down 5.77 per cent, HCL Tech down 5.20 per cent, Mphasis down 4.93 per cent, Wipro down 4.79 per cent, and Persistent Systems down 4.70 per cent.

Other sectoral losses included Nifty Media down 1.31 per cent and Nifty MS IT Tech down 3.50 per cent. Singhvi said concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) and weak investor sentiment are contributing to selling pressure in the IT sector.

Anil Singhvi's Insight on Market Weakness

Speaking on the market trend, Singhvi said the ongoing weakness is structural rather than technical or linked to weekly expiry. “The market has been lacking confidence in sustained rallies over the past year. Even when there is potential for growth, investors are cautious and need repeated triggers to push the market higher,” he said.

He added that FIIs have been buying in recent days, but in small amounts. “They are neither buying in large volumes nor investing with full conviction. Local funds are also contributing cautiously. This slow pace of buying keeps the market under pressure,” Singhvi said.

Investor Sentiment and Outlook

Singhvi said positive developments, such as trade deals or favourable policies, have a limited impact on the market, while negative news can quickly affect sentiment. “IT alone can influence Nifty’s mood, while other sectors remain relatively stable,” he noted.

Investor confidence remains low, with limited participation from domestic and foreign players. “The market is cautious, and buying interest is not strong. Even positive developments are not able to generate significant upward momentum,” Singhvi said.

He concluded that the current environment reflects a low-confidence trend for sustained gains, with slow FII inflows and sector-specific pressures dominating market sentiment.