Nifty Tops 25,500 Mark While IT Index Falls 0.74%

Market Update at 12:29 PM: Indian equity benchmarks traded higher on Friday as investors weighed rising crude oil prices linked to tensions between Iran and the United States, while bargain buying supported sentiment.

At 12 PM, the BSE Sensex stood at 82,943.02, up 444.88 points or 0.54 per cent, and the NSE Nifty50 was at 25,592, higher by 137.65 points or 0.54 per cent.

Within the Sensex pack, gains were led by Bharat Electronics Limited, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, and Titan Company, which rose up to 1.5 per cent. On the downside, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bharti Airtel declined by as much as 1.18 per cent.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap 100 advanced 0.45 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap 100 gained 0.11 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index slipped 0.74 per cent, followed by the Nifty Media index. Meanwhile, the Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1 per cent, while the Nifty Metal index and Nifty Private Bank index gained 0.5 per cent each. The Nifty FMCG index added 0.37 per cent.

Market Update at 10:40 AM: Indian equities traded volatile on Friday as investors evaluated rising oil prices amid escalating Iran-U.S. tensions while also tracking bargain-buying opportunities.

Around 10:20 AM, the BSE Sensex stood at 82,728, up 230 points or 0.28 per cent, while the Nifty50 traded at 25,538, higher by 83 points or 0.33 per cent.

Among Sensex constituents, Bharat Electronics Limited, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC Limited, Hindustan Unilever, and Titan Company led gains, rising up to 1.5 per cent.

On the downside, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bharti Airtel were top laggards, declining up to 1.18 per cent.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices gained 0.32 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively.

Sector-wise, the Nifty IT index fell 0.74 per cent, followed by the Nifty Media index. Meanwhile, the Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1 per cent, while the Nifty Metal and Private Bank indices advanced 0.5 per cent each. The Nifty FMCG index gained 0.37 per cent.

Market Update at 09:40 AM: Indian equities opened lower on Friday, pressured by rising crude oil prices amid escalating Iran-U.S. tensions.

The BSE Sensex traded around 82,343, down 156 points or 0.19 per cent, while the Nifty stood at 25,421, lower by 33 points or 0.13 per cent in early trade.

Among the key laggards were Infosys Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Eternal Ltd, UltraTech Cement Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Asian Paints Ltd, Bajaj Finserv Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd and Bajaj Finance Ltd.

On the gaining side were Titan Company Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, NTPC Ltd, ITC Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap index gained 0.1 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index slipped 0.09 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index declined 1.1 per cent and the Nifty Pharma index dipped 0.06 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty PSU Bank index rose 0.5 per cent, the Nifty Realty index gained 0.3 per cent and the Nifty Auto index advanced 0.2 per cent.

Pre-Market Update at 7:55 AM: Indian equity benchmarks are likely to open lower on Friday amid fragile global sentiment and rising geopolitical tensions. Gift Nifty was trading near the 25,400 level, a discount of nearly 5 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a cautious start to the session.

The dominant global theme remains geopolitical uncertainty after Donald Trump signalled that the U.S. could decide on potential military strikes against Iran within the next 10 days. Tehran warned that any attack would trigger retaliation against U.S. military bases across the region, keeping risk appetite weak. Asian markets traded mixed while Wall Street indices ended in the red.

Stock-specific activity is expected to continue on February 20, 2026. Waaree Energies is in talks with Andhra Pradesh and other states for a greenfield facility and is expanding battery storage capacity from 3.5 GWh to 20 GWh with about Rs 8,000 crore capex. Texmaco Rail & Engineering signed a JV shareholders’ agreement with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited to develop next-generation rolling stock and expand global rail EPC presence. RailTel Corporation of India received a Railway signalling order worth Rs 35.54 crore with a 24-month execution timeline. Karur Vysya Bank cut MCLR rates — 1-year and 6-month to 9.10 per cent and 1-month and 3-month to 8.95 per cent effective February 22. Zydus Lifesciences said the USFDA pre-approval inspection at its Ahmedabad injectable device unit closed with zero observations.

On February 19, Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth Rs 880.49 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors sold shares worth Rs 596.28 crore during the session.

On Thursday, Indian markets ended sharply lower, snapping a three-day winning streak. The Sensex fell 1,236.11 points (1.48 per cent) to 82,498.14, while the Nifty 50 declined 365.00 points (1.41 per cent) to 25,454.35.

U.S. markets closed lower, dragged by weakness in major stocks including Apple, Nvidia and Walmart. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.54 per cent to 49,395.16, the S&P 500 declined 0.28 per cent to 6,861.89, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.31 per cent to 22,682.73.

Among individual stocks, Apple dropped 1.4 per cent, Nvidia eased 0.04 per cent, Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.62 per cent, Tesla gained 0.09 per cent and Walmart declined 1.4 per cent. Private-equity firms including Blue Owl Capital, Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, KKR & Co. and The Carlyle Group fell between 1.9 per cent and 6 per cent.

The U.S. goods trade deficit widened to a record USD 1.24 trillion in 2025, slightly higher than 2024. Including services, the overall deficit narrowed to USD 901.5 billion from USD 903.5 billion a year earlier. In December, the deficit rose 32.6 per cent to USD 70.3 billion as exports declined and imports increased. New unemployment benefit claims fell by 23,000 to 206,000 in the week ended February 14, improving from 232,000 at the end of January.

In Japan, core consumer inflation slowed to 2.0 per cent year-on-year in January from 2.4 per cent in December, the weakest pace in two years. The flash composite PMI rose to 53.8 in February from 53.1 in January, the fastest growth since May 2023.

The U.S. dollar index hovered near a one-month high of 97.89 and was set for a weekly gain of over 1 per cent. Gold moved above USD 5,000 per ounce amid geopolitical risks and Federal Reserve policy outlook. Spot silver fell 0.22 per cent to USD 78.35 per ounce after rising more than 1.72 per cent earlier. WTI crude oil futures rose 0.09 per cent to USD 66.55 amid potential supply disruption concerns linked to U.S.–Iran tensions.

For today, Sammaan Capital and SAIL will remain on the F&O ban list.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.