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Informist, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026

By Eshitva Prakash

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices extended gains Monday, ending modestly higher and reflecting mixed investor reaction to import tariff developments in the US. Domestic analysts were optimistic about Indian equities after the US Supreme Court's landmark judgement Friday blocking reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. However, Trump's decision to invoke Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 15% global import tariff dampened much of the enthusiasm.

 

Apart from the global trade uncertainty, gains in the equity market were also limited by a fall in information technology stocks. The decline followed global brokerage Jefferies flagging further risks from artificial intelligence tools, downgrading several IT majors in the process. The Nifty IT index ended 1.4% lower, closing down for the fourth consecutive session. All the index constituents, barring Oracle Financial Services Software, ended the session in the red.

 

Analysts and brokerages see only incremental improvement to the effective import duty on India, since the India-US deal framework has already pegged the import levy on India at 18%, slightly higher than the current 15%. However, a major positive of this ruling is that it will likely limit the Trump administration's ability to impose reciprocal tariffs at this scale again. This comes ahead of the US mid-term elections, which will probably limit his aggressive push for import levies, analysts said. 

 

The Nifty 50 index settled at 25713 points, up 141.75 points or 0.6%. The BSE Sensex ended at 83294.66 points, up 479.95 points or 0.6%. Broader market indices, particularly mid-cap indices, underperformed the benchmarks. The Nifty Smallcap 250 rose 0.4%, while the Nifty Midcap 150 fell 0.2%. Gains of over 1% in HDFC Bank and over 2% in Kotak Mahindra Bank provided the biggest support to the 50-stock index, while Infosys was the biggest drag.

 

IT companies such as HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, and Wipro ended 1-2% lower after Jefferies downgraded six domestic IT companies and trimmed their target prices and earnings-per-share estimates. Artificial intelligence may structurally shift the business mix of IT services companies toward consulting and implementation, while shrinking the portion of managed services, CNBC TV-18 cited Jefferies as saying. 

 

Jefferies has downgraded Infosys to 'hold' from 'buy' and has cut its target price by 31%. It has also downgraded HCL Technologies to 'hold' from 'buy' and reduced its price target by 26%. It also cut Tata Consultancy Services to 'underperform' and reduced its target price by 33%.  LTIMindtree and Hexaware Technologies were also downgraded to 'underperform' and their target prices were cut by 30?ch. Jefferies also downgraded Mphasis to 'hold' and trimmed its target price by 28%.

 

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone ended nearly 3% higher, rising the most among Nifty 50 companies. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with NMDC and Brazil-based Vale to set up an integrated iron ore blending facility and a special economic zone at the Gangavaram Port in Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, Hindalco Industries fell the most among Nifty 50 constituents, ending over 2% lower.

 

Shares of Cipla ended more than 1% lower after the company on Saturday said the US Food and Drug Administration issued an 'official action indicated' against Pharmathen International, a supplier of lanreotide injection to the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Cipla USA. According to a social media post by NDTV Profit, Jefferies expects these supply issues to extend into FY28. The company's management in January said that lanreotide supply will resume in the first half of FY27.

 

Among Nifty 200 companies, IDFC FIRST Bank shares ended over 16% lower after the company disclosed a fraud of INR 5.90 billion. The discrepancy involved an account of the Haryana government and was likely due to fraudulent activities carried out by some employees at the bank's Chandigarh branch. While the lender has said this is unlikely to have a major impact on its costs and deposits, brokerage firms believe this fraud will likely translate into near-term provisioning pressure. 

 

Shares of AU Small Finance Bank ended over 5% lower after the bank, along with IDFC First Bank, was de-empanelled by the Haryana government. The Haryana government had also sought information regarding suspected unauthorised transactions between the government account and another customer account, the lender said.

 

Shares of UPL declined over 14?ter the company Friday approved a group reorganisation plan which will consolidate the company's India and international crop protection businesses under a new listed entity called UPL Global Sustainable Agri Solutions. Nuvama Institutional Equities downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' earlier due to expensive valuations and unresolved concerns over leverage and post-restructuring dilution.

 

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics ended over 3% lower after media reports said that the Indian Air Force has grounded the entire fleet of around 30 single-seat Tejas jets for technical scrutiny. A Tejas light combat aircraft sustained major damage to its airframe after it overshot the runway at a frontline airbase post suspected brake failure earlier this month, news agency PTI said, citing sources. In a clarification to the exchanges, HAL said there are no reports of a Tejas crash and the aircraft only had a minor technical incident on the ground.  

 

Among Nifty 500 companies, Blue Jet Healthcare, Neuland Laboratories, and Aegis Vopak Terminals ended 8-10% higher. Meanwhile, Godfrey Phillips India and Swan Corp. were among the worst hit, ending around 11% and 7% lower, respectively. 

 

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index was a clear outperformer, ending over 1.4% higher, supported by 1-4% gains in Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, and Canara Bank. Apart from the Nifty IT index, Nifty Realty, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Consumer Durables ended in the red.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 34 rose, 16 fell

* Of Sensex stocks, 20 rose and 10 fell

* On the NSE, 1,494 stocks rose, 1,675 fell, and 109 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,926 stocks rose, 2,389 fell, and 203 were unchanged

* Nifty PSU Bank: up 1.4%; Nifty Financial Services: up 0.9%; Nifty IT: down 1.4%

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BSE                                                 NSE

Sensex: 83294.66, up 479.95 points or 0.6%          Nifty 50: 25713, up 141.75 points or 0.6%

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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 Saji George Titus

 

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