Markets settle lower after RBI policy; continuous foreign fund outflows dent investors’ sentiment

Equity indices Sensex and Nifty close lower as RBI rate cut fails to impress, investors opt for profit-taking.

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Friday (February 7, 2025) as the RBI’s rate cut did not spring any major surprise for the markets and investors turned to profit-taking amid foreign fund outflows.

Registering its third day of decline, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dropped 197.97 points or 0.25% to settle at 77,860.19, in a volatile trade. During the day, it lost 582.42 points or 0.74% to 77,475.74.

The NSE Nifty declined 43.40 points or 0.18% to 23,559.95.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, the stock of ITC dipped over 2% after the diversified entity reported a 7.27% decline in consolidated net profit to ₹5,013.16 crore for the December quarter on account of subdued demand and sharp escalation in input costs.

State Bank of India, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and PowerGrid were also among the laggards.

“As the rate cut did not spring any major surprise, investors did not find anything interesting in the new RBI governor’s comments which resulted in a steady bout of profit-taking in banking, oil & gas, FMCG and power stocks. The ongoing earnings have been mixed to subdued while relentless selling of domestic shares by the FIIs have prompted investors to maintain caution,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Limited, said.

Among the gainers, Tata Steel jumped over 4%.