At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 986.72 points or 1.32% to 73,615.77. The Nifty 50 index declined 261.70 points or 1.16% to 22,283.35.

The broader market underperformed frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 2.39% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 2.51%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 582 shares rose and 3,134 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

SEBI Leadership Change:

Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been appointed as the 11th chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a three-year term. The current Finance Secretary will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, who will complete her tenure as SEBI's first woman chairperson on Friday, February 28, 2025.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto declined 3.04% to 20,685.85. The index dropped 4.51% in two consecutive trading sessions.

Maruti Suzuki India (down 4.36%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 4.04%), Ashok Leyland (down 3.55%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.52%), TVS Motor Company (down 3.42%), Tata Motors (down 2.76%), Eicher Motors (down 2.47%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.12%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.06%) and Bharat Forge (down 1.77%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Chemplast Sanmar announced that it, along with its subsidiary, Chemplast Cuddalore Vinyls, will acquire equity shares in JSW Green Energy Nine, a special purpose vehicle established by JSW Neo Energy for renewable power generation in Tamil Nadu.

Oriana Power announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New and Renewable Energy Department, Government of Assam, during the Investment and Infrastructure Summit 2025 in Guwahati.

Global Market:

Asian stocks declined on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 10% tax on Chinese imports, compounding the 10% tariff imposed earlier this month.

Trump also reaffirmed plans to implement a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, set to take effect on March 4.

In Japan, factory output dipped 1.1% in January from the previous month, while retail sales climbed 3.9% year-over-year. Meanwhile, core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 2.2% in February.

Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday, dragged down by a selloff in chip stocks and signs of a cooling economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.45% to 43,239.50, while the S&P 500 declined 1.59% to end at 5,861.57. The Nasdaq closed 2.78% lower at 18,544.42.

Nvidia shares plunged 8.5% to $120.15, despite strong Q4 earnings that beat expectations. Investors remain wary of shrinking profit margins and rising costs tied to its Blackwell AI chip rollout.

The US economy expanded at a 2.3% annualized rate in Q4 2024, unchanged from initial estimates but slower than Q3's 3.1% growth. For the full year, GDP grew 2.8%, slightly below 2023's 2.9%.

Meanwhile, jobless claims surged unexpectedly, with 242,000 new applications filed last week--up 22,000 from the previous period.

On a brighter note, new orders for US-manufactured capital goods jumped 0.8% in January, following a downwardly revised 0.2% rise in December.