Sensex falls over 200 pts, Nifty below 25,600 ahead of RBI MPC decision; mid, smallcaps slip

Market Overview - The Nifty and Sensex indices opened lower, continuing losses for a second consecutive session, with the BSE Sensex dropping over 200 points below 83,100 and the Nifty 50 declining over 80 points below 25,600 [16] - The Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell by 1%, while the Midcap 100 index decreased by 0.35% [16] Global Market Sentiment - Global markets are experiencing a risk-off sentiment, with Bitcoin falling below $64,000 and silver correcting sharply to around $71 from recent highs of approximately $121 [2][16] - The tech-heavy Nasdaq has declined about 6% from its peak, indicating sustained pressure on technology and AI-related stocks [5][16] - U.S. equities have seen a decline for two consecutive sessions, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 592.58 points (1.20%) to close at 48,908.72, and the S&P 500 dropping 1.23% to 6,798.40 [8][16] Foreign Institutional Investment - Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned sellers again, selling Rs 2,150 crore on February 5, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought nearly Rs 1,130 crore [6][7][16] - FIIs had previously staged a strong comeback, being net buyers of Rs 5,236 crore, marking the highest single-day inflow since October 28 [7][16] Domestic Economic Indicators - Expectations for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting suggest a status quo on interest rates, with a rate cut seen as unlikely [6][16] - A potentially dovish tone in the policy and an upward revision to FY27 growth projections could improve market sentiment [6][16] Commodity Market - U.S. crude futures extended losses, with Brent crude falling 50 cents (0.74%) to $67.05 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declining 52 cents (0.82%) to $62.77 per barrel [10][16] Currency Exchange - The Indian rupee opened stronger at 90.29 against the US dollar, compared to the previous closing level of 90.36 [11][16]