Large private banks led the sell-off, while public sector lenders and information technology stocks bucked the weak trend. NSE s Nifty fell 212.5 points, or 0.97%, to close at 21,717.9. The BSE Sensex declined 723.5 points, or 1%, to end at 71,428.4.
In the past 10 years in February, foreign investors have been buyers on six occasions and sellers on four. In the past two years, February has seen outflows.
The Nifty Private Bank index climbed 2.09 percent in the past week. However, on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the index is down 5.07 percent. Some signs of short covering were seen on the day before the presentation of the budget.
Shares of HDFC Bank fell nearly 13% in the last two trading sessions. About 17 crore shares changed hands on Wednesday and Thursday compared to an average of 1.2 crore shares traded between January 1 and 16.