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Informist, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

 

By Eshitva Prakash

 

MUMBAI – The benchmark indices ended higher Friday, supported by gains in energy and metal companies, while weakness in information technology and select heavyweights limited a further rise. The market continued to be volatile as investors are concerned that tensions between the US and Iran may turn into a conflict. After extending losses in the initial minutes of trading, headline indices made a smart recovery, but were unable to hold on to all of their intraday gains.

 

"Investors may wait and watch the unfolding developments in West Asia," V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments, said in a note. "Meanwhile, investors who are optimistic about a possible deal (between the US and Iran) can use the current weakness in the market to buy fairly valued high quality stocks in banking and financials, automobile, pharmaceuticals, hotels, leading capital goods and telecommunication," he added.

 

Some analysts believe that though US President Donald Trump has warned of military action against Iran, he has also provided the West Asian country a 10-day period to agree to US demands, which may have helped sooth investor concerns in the market. On the other hand, US media reports Thursday said a military strike may come as soon as this weekend, which dampened investor sentiment early in the session.

 

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said the India-US trade deal is expected to come into effect in April. The minister also confirmed that free trade agreements with the UK and Oman might also materialise in April, according to media reports. This announcement boosted the indices slightly, but not enough to prevent a fall from intraday peaks. "There was nothing materially new in the (Goyal) speech and markets largely discounted the announcement," Jatin Gedia, vice president of technical research at Teji Mandi Investment Technologies, said.

 

The Nifty 50 rose 0.5% or 116.90 points to settle at 25571.25 points, rising 0.4% this week. Information technology majors were mostly responsible for limiting the gains, while energy companies lent support to the 50-stock index during the week. Larsen & Toubro rose almost 5% in the last five trading sessions, while Eternal was down 5.5% for the period. On Friday, Hindalco Industries, NTPC, and L&T were the top gainers, advancing 2–3%. The BSE Sensex closed at 82814.71, up 0.4% or 316.57 points.

 

"Sentiment improved on clearer trade agreement signals and India's entry into Pax Silica, which is expected to strengthen supply chain security in AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note.

 

Shares of some oil explorers, such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp., extended gains from the previous session on rise in the price of crude oil recently. At 1600 IST, the April futures contract of Brent crude eased to $71.23 per barrel, but was still up 5.6% over three days. Concerns of logistical disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz have been driving oil prices higher, analysts said. Earlier in the day, a weekly report from the US Energy Information Administration said the US crude oil inventories, excluding those in strategic petroleum reserves, fell 9 million barrels to 419.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday. This was contrary to the expectations by analysts polled by Dow Jones who had estimated a rise of 1.1 million barrels.

 

Shares of most defence companies ended higher. Analysts said that near-term sentiment around these stocks may have improved due to tensions flaring up between the US and Iran, characteristic of defence stocks in times of geopolitical turmoil globally. Moreover, the defence ministry recently gave initial clearance to acquire 114 more Rafale jets for the air force, and other planes and missiles from France, which helped boost sentiment for these stocks as a majority of these fighter planes are expected to be produced with a joint venture partner, analysts said. Shares of Bharat Dynamics, Data Patterns (India), and Paras Defence and Space Technologies rose 2–3%. Bharat Electronics, Bharat Forge, and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers ended over 1% higher.

 

"HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics) is probably underperforming on the execution front, which is why we need inter-government collaborations such as those with France," an analyst from a domestic brokerage said. The requirements of our armed forces, particularly the air force, are very high, and those demands are not currently being met, according to the analyst. Public-private partnerships are also helping India keep up with an upswing in demand, owing to border tensions with China and Pakistan.

 

Hyundai Motor India ended as the top gainer in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. Shares of the carmaker shot up in the final hour of trade, closing over 5% higher. An analyst at a global brokerage firm said it was due to a market-on-close buying by a passive fund.

 

Shares of ABB India ended nearly 5% higher. Brokerages said the company's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin, and its order inflows for the December quarter rose more than expected. A strong development in the base business and support from the timing of large orders with key contributions from data centres, automotive, buildings and infrastructure, railways, and metals, lifted the overall order book, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.

 

Shares of pharmaceutical company Novartis India ended 20% higher, hitting the upper circuit at INR 996.50 on BSE. The company's Swiss-parent Novartis AG said it would sell its entire 70.68% stake in the company for around INR 14.46 billion. WaveRise Investments, ChrysCapital, and Two Infinity Partners have signed an agreement to purchase the stake from the parent entity at INR 860.64 per share, according to an exchange filing. This share purchase value is at 3.6% premium to Novartis India stock's closing price on the BSE Thursday.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 36 rose, 13 fell, and 1 was unchanged

* Of Sensex stocks, 22 rose and 8 fell

* On the NSE, 1,520 stocks rose, 1,623 fell, and 108 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,917 stocks rose, 2,265 fell, and 169 were unchanged

* Nifty PSU Bank: up 1.7%; Nifty Energy: up 1.4%; Nifty IT: down 1%

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BSE                                                 NSE

Sensex: 82814.71, up 316.57 points or 0.4%          Nifty 50: 25571.25, up 116.90 points or 0.5%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26373.20 (Jan. 5, 2026)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2, 2026)
2026 1st day close: 85188.60 (Jan. 1)	: 2026 1st day close: 26146.55 (Jan. 1)
2026 Closing High: 85762.01 (Jan. 2)	: 2026 Closing High: 26328.55 (Jan. 2)
2026 Closing Low: 80722.94 (Feb. 1)	: 2026 Closing Low: 24825.45 (Feb. 1)
2026 High (intraday): 85883.50 (Jan. 5)	: 2026 High (intraday): 26373.20 (Jan. 5)
2026 Low (intraday): 79899.42 (Feb. 1)	: 2026 Low (intraday): 24571.75 (Feb. 1)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

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End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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