Indian shares set to open lower with analysts expecting post-earnings consolidation

A man looks at a screen outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas · Reuters

Reuters

Tue, 17 February 2026 at 11:28 am GMT+9 2 min read

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Feb 17 (Reuters) - India’s benchmark indexes are set to open marginally lower, with analysts expecting a consolidation phase following a largely in-line earnings season, while tech stocks await ‌direction from the ongoing Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at ‌25,624.5 points as of 7:54 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will open slightly below Monday’s close of 25,682.75.

Both ​the Nifty and the Sensex rose about 0.8% on Monday, paring part of their two-session slide of 2% as value buying in HDFC Bank and Reliance offset IT-led losses on AI fears.

“With the results season ending on a strong note, we expect markets to remain sideways with a marginal positive bias,” said ‌Siddhartha Khemka, head of research of ⁠wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Nifty 50 firms reported 7.5% year-on-year profit growth in the December quarter, while the broader BSE 500 posted a ⁠16% increase, despite a one-off hit from the government’s new labour code.

“The upcoming Infosys AI-focused investor meet and ongoing AI summit are expected to provide direction for IT companies with updates on enterprise AI adoption, monetisation, ​deal ​pipelines, and regulatory outlook closely tracked,” Khemka said.

IT index ​rose 0.2% on Monday. It lost 8.2% ‌last week, its worst showing in 10 months, on concerns that AI-related disruption could hurt software companies’ earnings.

Other Asian markets traded flat in a holiday-thinned trading. Wall Street equities were closed on Monday. [MKTS/GLOB]

Brent crude futures traded steady after rising 1.3% on Monday ahead of the upcoming U.S.-Iran talks aimed at de-escalating tensions, which could have implications for oil prices. [O/R]

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) remained sellers of Indian stocks ‌for the second straight session on Monday, offloading shares ​worth 9.72 billion rupees ($107.07 million), while domestic institutional investors bought ​stocks worth 16.67 billion rupees, according to ​NSE’s provisional data.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Cochin Shipyard is declared the L1 bidder for ‌a 50 billion rupee order from the Ministry ​of Defence to manufacture ​five vessels for the Indian Navy

** Lupin signs license and supply agreement with Spektus to commercialise the antidepressant “Deslaflex” in Canada

** TVS Supply Chain Solutions signs an agreement with Italy-based ALA ​Group to collaborate on opportunities in ‌India’s aerospace and defence sectors

** Embassy Developments receives RERA approval for a project in ​Alibaug with a gross development value of 4 billion rupees

Story Continues  

($1 = 90.7810 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by ​Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

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