Sensex declines over 400 pts, Nifty below 25,850 as IT selloff intensifies

Market Overview - The BSE Sensex traded over 400 points lower, reaching a low of 83,817, while the Nifty 50 fell over 100 points, slipping below the 25,850 mark [1][11] - A sharp selloff in IT stocks weighed on market sentiment, with Infosys, Eternal, and Titan Company being the top drags, falling between 2-4% [11] - Marginal gains were observed in ICICI Bank, Power Grid, and Tata Steel, rising up to 1% [11] Economic Indicators - The latest U.S. jobs data showed the addition of 130,000 jobs and a decline in unemployment to 4.3%, suggesting the Federal Reserve may refrain from rate cuts in the near term [11] - In India, the rate-cutting cycle appears largely over, with steady growth and inflation expected to gradually return to the RBI's long-term target by the end of FY27 [11] Sector Performance - Market support is likely to come from earnings growth, particularly in sectors such as automobiles, jewellery, hotels, select capital goods, telecom, and financials, which are showing strong performance [12] - Tech stocks are under pressure, particularly following the Anthropic-led disruption, and may take longer to recover [12] - A rotation of funds from IT to better-performing segments could support stocks in sectors driven by stronger earnings [12] Foreign Investment - Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth ₹944 crore on February 11, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of ₹125.36 crore [5][12] Global Market Trends - U.S. markets ended marginally lower after a choppy session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping more than 66 points (0.1%) and the Nasdaq Composite falling about 0.2% [6][12] - In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 briefly crossed the 58,000 mark for the first time, while South Korea's Kospi surged as much as 2.1% to a record high of 5,466.9 [7][12] - Other Asian markets showed resilience despite weaker cues from Wall Street, with Singapore's benchmark index crossing the 5,000 level for the first time [7][12] Commodity Prices - Oil prices edged higher due to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with Brent crude futures rising 34 cents (0.49%) to $69.74 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gaining 37 cents (0.57%) to $65.00 per barrel [9][12] Currency Exchange - The Indian rupee opened 0.27% higher at 90.4550 per U.S. dollar, compared to its previous close of 90.70 [10][12]