In the previous session, the two declined over a 1% lower as a deepening selloff in IT stocks rattled investor sentiment amid mounting fears of AI-led disruption.
At 9:15 am, Sensex opened the session 150 points lower at 82,480, while the 50-share Nifty index began trading over 50 points in the red at 25,423.
Expert Views
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said the IT sell-off witnessed last week is likely to continue weighing on markets in the near term. According to him, the mild recovery seen in IT ADRs on Friday is unlikely to provide meaningful support to domestic IT stocks. He expects institutional investors to persist with selling in IT and rotate funds into sectors such as financials, automobiles, capital goods, telecom and pharma, where earnings growth visibility remains strong.
He also noted that Brent crude is hovering around $68 and remains delicately balanced amid concerns over geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran. This development, he said, warrants close monitoring.
Vijayakumar added that investors can use the current phase of market volatility to rebalance portfolios in favour of growth-oriented sectors such as those mentioned earlier.
Overall, he remains constructive on the outlook for 2026, stating that market prospects appear favourable as fundamentals improve and valuations align with long-term averages. While mid- and small-cap stocks remain relatively overvalued, they are delivering better-than-expected earnings.Global Markets
Asian equities largely consolidated their recent strong gains on Monday, with holiday closures in China, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States leading to thin trading volumes. Weak economic data from Japan also tempered some of the momentum seen in that market. With several major financial centres shut, activity across currencies, commodities and bond markets remained subdued.
Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.2%, extending last week’s 5% rally. Meanwhile, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%. South Korea’s tech-heavy market had surged 8.2% last week, while Taiwan advanced nearly 6% over the same period.
In the United States, the S&P 500 ended Friday’s session little changed after a key consumer inflation report came in slightly below expectations but failed to trigger a significant rally. The benchmark index inched up 0.05% to close at 6,836.17. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.22% to settle at 22,546.67, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48.95 points, or 0.10%, to finish at 49,500.93.
FII/DII Tracker
Foreign portfolio investors or FPIs net sold shares worth Rs 7,395 crore on Friday, February 13. DIIs were buyers of equity worth Rs 5,554 crore, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.
Crude Impact
Oil prices moved in a narrow range on Monday ahead of talks between Washington and Tehran, as concerns that rising Iran-U.S. tensions could disrupt crude flows provided underlying support. At the same time, OPEC+ is inclined toward resuming output hikes from April, which capped gains.
Brent crude futures slipped 3 cents to $67.72 a barrel by 0156 GMT, after settling 23 cents higher on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 3 cents at $62.86 a barrel. There will be no WTI settlement on Monday due to a holiday.
Rupee vs Dollar
The Indian rupee opened at 90.62 per dollar on Monday, slightly stronger compared with Friday’s closing level of 90.64 per dollar.
With inputs from agencies
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)