After opening lower, the Indian market dragged further as the session progressed and ended the day lower.

Equity benchmark indices in India - the Sensex and the Nifty ended lower following a 3-day rally amid weakness in capital goods, metal and select auto shares

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 504 points (down 0.6%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed 133 points lower (down 0.5%).

Trent, ONGC and JSW Steel are among the top gainers today.

Hindalco, Eternal and Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 25,701, down by 136 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended 2.6% higher and the BSE SmallCap index ended 3.6% higher.

Barring PSU bank sector and oil & gas sector, all other sectoral indices were trading on a negative note, with stocks in the metal sector and capital goods sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at 90.33 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.5% lower at Rs 152,170 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 7% higher at Rs 250,032 per 1 kg.
 

Aurionpro Solutions Shares Fall 5%

In news from the IT sector, Aurionpro Solutions' share price tumbled over 5% in Thursday's session following the third-quarter (Q3FY26) result.

The scrip declined as much as 5.2% to the day's low of Rs 897 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The shares of the company declined on Thursday as the company reported a fall in net profit for the December quarter (Q3FY26) due to changes in the labour code.

The net profit declined 8% to Rs 440 m from Rs 480 m in the same quarter a year ago (Q3FY25).

Aurionpro Solutions saw a decline in net profit, as the company incurred a one-time expense of Rs 81 m due to the changes in the labour code, according to the exchange filing.

The software consulting firm's revenue rose 21% Y-o-Y to Rs 3.7 bn from Rs 3.1 bn.

Aurionpro launched AurionAI, a domain-led enterprise AI platform for banking and financial services, enabling secure, scalable, and production-ready AI adoption for regulated financial institutions, the exchange filing said.
 

Why Did Gold & Silver Prices Crash Today?

Moving on, MCX Gold and MCX Silver prices witnessed a sharp sell-off on Thursday, mirroring weakness in global bullion markets.

MCX Gold April futures slipped to an intra-day low of Rs 1,48,455, down nearly 3%, while MCX Silver March futures plunged 14.1% to Rs 2,30,900 during the session. Notably, the April gold contract had touched a record high of Rs 1,80,799 on 29 January and has since corrected by around 18%.

Silver prices have seen an even steeper fall, tumbling as much as 45% from their peak of Rs 4,20,048 in just five trading sessions.

According to media reports, gold and silver prices came under intense pressure after renewed selling emerged in global markets.

The decline follows signals from the US Federal Reserve indicating caution over further interest rate cuts, which strengthened the dollar and reduced the appeal of non-yielding assets like precious metals.
 

Why Metal Stocks are Falling

Moving on to news from the metal sector, metal stocks came under sharp selling pressure on February 5, emerging among the top laggards in today's market trade. The decline was largely driven by profit booking at higher levels, coupled with weakness in precious metal prices.

The Nifty Metal index slipped nearly 3% to 11,726 in early Thursday trade, snapping its three-day winning streak. Hindustan Zinc shares plunged around 7% to Rs 593.25, slipping below the Rs 600 mark after two sessions of gains. The stock of India's largest silver producer also ended its three-session rally.

Vedanta shares declined close to 5%, while National Aluminium Company (NALCO) fell around 4%. Hindustan Copper and Hindalco Industries dropped nearly 3% each, whereas NMDC and Lloyds Metals and Energy slipped about 2% apiece.

The sell-off comes after a strong recent rally, as investors appeared to book profits at elevated levels. The Nifty Metal index had gained over 6% in the previous three sessions to close at 12,044.25 on Wednesday.

Adding to the pressure, precious metal prices weakened sharply. MCX Gold April futures fell around 3% to Rs 1,48,455 per 10 grams, while June gold contracts also declined by a similar margin. MCX Silver March futures slipped 6% to Rs 2,52,719 per kg, with May contracts also down about 6%.

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