Indian stock markets experienced a subdued opening on Thursday, with both the Sensex and Nifty shedding points, thus interrupting a three-day rally. The Sensex fell by over 100 points, while the Nifty slipped below the 25,850 mark.
At the opening bell, the Sensex stood at 84,456.32, down by 10.19 points, and the Nifty was at 25,871.55, a decrease of 4.25 points. Financial and IT shares were among the primary contributors to the decline.
In contrast to the overall market sentiment, Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, saw its shares rise by 7%. The surge comes after the company reported a positive Q2FY26 PAT (Profit After Tax) of ₹39 crore. This marks a turnaround from the ₹19 crore loss the company incurred during the same quarter last year. The company's revenue from operations also saw a 16.5% year-on-year increase, reaching ₹538 crore. However, Honasa Consumer noted a ₹28 crore impact on revenue due to changes in Flipkart's settlement processes, where logistics and fulfillment costs are now adjusted in revenue reporting. This change did not impact the company's bottom line. Mamaearth shares zoomed 9% following the announcement.
Meanwhile, shares of TMCV (The Marine and Coastal Ventures) experienced a 3% drop.
Other stocks making headlines include Tata Steel, which reported a more than fourfold jump in consolidated net profit to ₹3,183.09 crore for the September quarter. Ashok Leyland reported a nearly flat standalone net profit of ₹771.06 crore for the second quarter of FY26. Hindustan Aeronautics reported a consolidated net profit of ₹1,669.05 crore in Q2 FY26, up 10.50% YoY.
Global market cues present a mixed picture. S&P 500 futures remained relatively stable, while Japan's Topix index rose by 0.6%. On the other hand, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite showed a positive trend with a 0.3% increase, and Euro Stoxx 50 futures also rose by 0.2%.
The Indian rupee weakened by 6 paise, trading at 88.68 against the US dollar in early trade.
On Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 closed 180 points higher at 25,875, while the BSE Sensex rose 595 points to close at 84,466. Wednesday's gains were driven by financial and IT stocks.
