At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 230.01 points or 0.28% to 82,268.13. The Nifty 50 index fell 64.70 points or 0.25% to 25,386.30.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index slipped 0.29% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.68%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,146 shares rose and 1,826 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 880.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 596.28 crore in the Indian equity market on 19 February 2026, provisional data showed.
Stocks in Spotlight:
ABB India rose 4.24%. The company reported an 18.19% decline in consolidated net profit to 432.27 crore in Q4 CY25 compared to Rs 528.41 crore posted in same quarter last year. However, revenue from operations rose 5.7% YoY to Rs 3,557.01 crore reported in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.
CIE Automotive India jumped 3.06% after the company reported a 10.44% rise in consolidated net profit to 204.30 crore in Q4 CY25 compared to Rs 184.98 crore posted in same quarter last year. However, revenue from operations rose 13.41% YoY to Rs 2,392.99 crore reported in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.
RailTel Corporation of India rose 0.05%. The company announced that it has secured a Rs 36 crore railway signalling project from the Deputy CSTE/P/CNB.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.52% to 6.709 compared with previous session close of 6.674.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.9500 compared with its close of 90.6850 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement rose 0.18% to Rs 155,099.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.12% to 97.96.
The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.22% to 4.068.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement rose 24 cents or 0.33% to $71.90 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Asian markets traded mostly lower on Friday, after all three major Wall Street indexes declined overnight, pressured by a drop in private credit stocks and Iran-U.S. tensions.
Prospects of a strike on Iran have risen with U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly saying that he would take a call to decide on military action against Tehran in the next 10 days. This pushed Brent Crude higher, gaining 0.26%, to settle at $71.92.
In Asia, investors assessed Japan's latest inflation data. The island nation's headline inflation rate fell from 2.1% in December to 1.5% in January, its lowest level since March 2022. The reading ended a run of 45 straight months in which inflation had remained above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.
The core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, eased to 2%, the lowest level since January 2024. It was down from 2.4% in December.
As per reports, despite the slowdown in headline inflation, the Bank of Japan is unlikely to delay rate hikes as fresh-food prices remain volatile, while energy costs fell after Japan scrapped its fuel tax in December.
Japan's manufacturing activity improved in February, with the S&P Global Japan Manufacturing PMI rising to 52.8 from 51.5 in January, marking the strongest expansion since May 2022. Growth was supported by firm domestic and overseas demand, with export orders rising at the fastest pace in eight years.
While hiring growth eased from January's peak, it remained solid. Input costs increased at a slightly faster pace. Manufacturers stayed optimistic about the year-ahead outlook, backed by stronger demand, semiconductor and AI-related orders, and ongoing product launches.
Overnight on Wall Street, the US stocks closed lower on Thursday, pulling the S&P 500 close to flat for the year, as investors rotated out of financials and monitored escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
Reflecting a surge in imports and a slump in exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in the month of December. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit grew to $70.3 billion in December from a revised $53.0 billion in November.
The unexpectedly wider trade deficit partly reflected a continued surge in the value of imports, which shot up by 3.6 percent to $357.6 billion in December after spiking by 4.2 percent to $345.3 billion in November. The report also showed a continued slump in the value of exports, which tumbled by 1.7 percent to $287.3 billion in December after plunging by 3.4 percent to $292.3 billion in November.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 267.50 points, or 0.54%, closing at 49,395.16. The S&P 500 declined 0.28%, ending at 6,861.89, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.31% to 22,682.73.
Financial stocks led the decline after Blue Owl Capital said it would tighten investor liquidity following the sale of $1.4 billion in loan assets, raising concerns about potential losses in the private credit market. Shares of Blue Owl dropped about 6%, while Blackstone and Apollo Global Management each fell more than 5%.
Software stocks also remained under pressure amid persistent worries about artificial intelligence disruption. The sector has struggled in recent weeks as investors assess how AI could reshape enterprise software demand.
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