Mumbai, February 14 – Indian equity benchmarks lost nearly 1% during the week, weighed down by weak global cues and sharp declines in the IT index, reflecting Wall Street losses due to concerns about AI.
Nifty lost 0.87% during the week and fell 1.30% on the last trading day to 25,471. At Friday's close, the Sensex was down 1,048 points or 1.25% at 82,626. It declined by 1.14% during the week.
Sectoral performance remained firmly negative, with all major indices ending in the red. The Nifty Metal index was the worst performer, dropping 3.3%, followed by realty, which fell by 2.2%, and FMCG, which fell by 1.9%.
The Nifty IT index touched a 10-month low before closing 1.4% lower, even as selective buying helped it recover from intraday lows.
Analysts said that the IT sector continues to face headwinds amid rising concerns that rapid AI advancements could disrupt traditional service models and weigh on future revenue visibility.
The US dollar strengthened on the back of stronger-than-expected US January jobs data, which reduced expectations of near-term interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.
The dollar gained further traction amid media reports that Russia may consider re-entering the dollar settlement system as part of a potential economic agreement with the US, adding additional pressure on precious metals.
Analysts predicted that "a break below the 25,400 mark in Nifty could open the door for a move toward the 25,100 gap area. On the upside, the 25,700–26,000 zone is likely to act as a strong resistance band in case of any recovery."
Broader indices showed divergence from the benchmark indices during the week, with the Nifty Midcap100 only down 0.11%, while Nifty Smallcap100 added 0.56%.
Apart from IT, FMCG and realty also appear vulnerable to further declines, while banking, auto, energy and select metal stocks may continue to show relatively better strength, market participants said.
Looking ahead, investor attention is expected to shift toward global macro developments, with the earnings season drawing to a close, they said. Evolving geopolitical dynamics, and key takeaways from the ‘India AI Impact Summit’ scheduled in New Delhi next week, are other important cues for investors.
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