Mumbai, Feb 28, 2026, 12:06 IST — Market closed.
Indian equities pulled back last week. The Sensex dropped 1,527.52 points, or 1.84%, over the five sessions to close at 81,287.19 on Friday. The Nifty 50 wrapped up at 25,178.65. Exchange data showed foreign institutional investors offloaded 34.66 billion rupees in shares Thursday, while domestic institutions were net buyers to the tune of 50.32 billion rupees.
Sellers took aim at autos and financials on the last day of February trading, with IT stocks posting gains. “A risk-off tone prevails as the earnings season winds down,” noted Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, citing weak global cues and ongoing U.S.-Iran tensions. India Today
Tech stocks remain the big force shaping mood in the market. The Nifty IT index dropped 19.5% in February, chalking up its steepest monthly slide since September 2008. The trigger: U.S. players Anthropic and Palantir rolling out new AI automation tools, according to Reuters. “There is now a cloud of uncertainty” hanging over margins and profits, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities at SMC Global. Business Recorder
Shares of Dr Reddy’s Labs, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Life, and Sun Pharma weighed on the market this Friday. On the flip side, Trent, HCL Tech, Infosys, and Apollo Hospitals made gains, according to the data. Declining stocks outpaced advancers on the NSE. Both the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped close to 1% apiece.
India’s economy expanded 7.8% year-on-year in the October-December quarter, the government reported after markets closed, down from 8.4% growth over the previous three months. The figures reflect a shift to a new GDP base year—2022-23. For the fiscal year ending this March, the National Statistics Office now expects 7.6% growth, slightly higher than the earlier 7.4% projection using the old series.
Risk appetite got a boost after the GDP figure landed. According to ETMarkets, GIFT Nifty futures surged on the news, hinting at a potentially upbeat start for Indian stocks come Monday. “Strong manufacturing and services propped up the quarter,” said Maulik Patel, research chief at Equirus Securities. The Economic Times
The rupee picked up nearly 1% in February, marking its first monthly gain since April 2025, but finished Friday weaker at 90.9750 per dollar, according to Reuters. Foreign investors snapped up over $2.5 billion in local stocks on a net basis during the month, the same report noted. Now, traders are looking to see if the currency’s usual March upswing materializes.
Still, elevated crude poses an obvious threat to Indian assets—think inflation, think trade gap. Brent finished Friday at $72.48 a barrel, and analysts at Barclays aren’t ruling out $80 if U.S.-Iran strains hit supply.
U.S. equities looked headed for a negative close for February, with investors wrestling with persistent inflation, tariff risks, and fresh anxiety around AI, according to Reuters. Indian shares have mirrored those moves, especially among tech stocks.
Oil could set the early tone Monday, as top OPEC+ players gather Sunday to weigh a possible 137,000 barrels-a-day supply bump for April, according to Reuters. Crude remains above $72. With markets reopening March 2, traders are eyeing whether Friday’s unexpected GDP data will be enough to balance any new global risk-off mood.
