Final Trade: Sensex sheds 32 points, Nifty settles at 23,031

Indian equities in Thursday's session (February 13) extended their losing run for the seventh straight session. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 0.04 per cent or 32.11 points lower at 76,138.97, while the NSE Nifty50 index ended with a cut of 0.06 per cent or 13.85 points at 23,031.4. Meanwhile, the broader markets ended on a mixed note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index gaining 0.25 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended 0.37 per cent lower.

Sectorally, pharma, realty, metal led the gains, with the pharma pack emerging as the outlier with gains of over 1 per cent, followed by financial services and and private bank indices. However, IT, PSU Bank and FMCG indices were the top laggards in today's session losing up to 0.4 per cent. Also, auto, consumer durables and oil & gas indices ended in the red.

From the Nifty50 pack, top gainers included stocks like Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank, while laggards were scrips including Adani Enterprises, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports, TCS and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services on the markets performance today said, "Despite initial market optimism driven by easing domestic inflation data, the rally lost momentum amid uncertain global cues and subdued corporate earnings. Furthermore, a surge in Chinese technology stocks, fuelled by heightened interest in artificial intelligence, redirected FIIs in pursuit of more attractive returns."

Market participants are now closely monitoring the outcome of the Trump-Modi discussions for any trade and tariff concessions for a potential pullback rally, he added.

Stocks in action:

Bharat Forge: After posting a weak Q3 performance, the stock after marking a new 52-week low in intraday trade ended with a cut of 2.5 per cent at Rs 1,078 per share on the BSE.

Vodafone Idea: Shares of the telecom player ended 3 per cent higher at Rs 8.65 per share on the company's plan to fund its Rs 10,000 crore expansion.

Hindustan Aeronautics: Shares of the state-run defence PSU ended nearly 2 per cent higher at Rs 3,659.9 after the company's robust Q3 show.

European markets

European stock markets in Thursday's session largely traded higher amid a slew of earnings as well as economic data. The Stoxx 600 index maintained its positive momentum. Meanwhile, the German DAX and French CAC indices both were up over 1 per cent each, however, UK's FTSE traded with a cut.