Equities Pare Early Surge to Close a tad Higher as IT Rout Defines February

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

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By Dehuti Jani

February 25, 2026 at 11:44 AM IST

Indian equity benchmarks surrendered most of their intraday gains to close only marginally higher on Wednesday, as losses in Reliance Industries and State Bank of India offset advances in metal and IT stocks. The Nifty50 edged up 0.23% or 57.85 points to 25,482.50, while the BSE Sensex added just 0.06% or 50.15 points to 82,276.07, having surged nearly 700 points in early trade before sentiment cooled steadily through the session. The muted close underscored a broader monthly underperformance, with the Nifty 50 up just 0.4% in February and the Sensex fractionally in the red, lagging both the MSCI Asia ex-Japan and MSCI Emerging Markets indices. The drag has come largely from IT stocks, which carry roughly an 11% weighting in the blue-chip index, the second-highest sectoral weight with the 10 Nifty IT constituents having shed a combined $68.6 billion in market capitalisation this month, putting the index on course for its worst monthly performance in nearly 23 years.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 gaining 0.58% and 0.96% respectively. Among sectors, Nifty Metal was the top gainer, followed by Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT, while Nifty PSU Bank was the worst performer of the day. The February selloff in IT has wiped $68.6 billion off the combined market value of Nifty IT constituents, with the index down 21% for the month, as investors continued to price in the risk of AI-driven disruption to India's technology sector — a concern that has kept institutional appetite for the space subdued even as select names staged tactical recoveries.

Top Movers of the Day

SAIL rose 3.9% to ₹167.20 on the NSE, marking a 20-month high and its strongest level since June 2024.

Lupin gained 2% to hit a 52-week high of ₹2,299.70 on the NSE, trading near its record peak of ₹2,403.45 touched in January 2025.

Datamatics Global Services declined nearly 2% after its Netherlands-based step-down subsidiary was liquidated effective February 18.

Star Health and Allied Insurance surged up to 6.8% to an intraday high of ₹487.35; it later traded 2.73% higher at ₹468.45 as buying interest strengthened.

SAMHI Hotels advanced over 4% after its subsidiary signed operating agreements with Marriott Hotels and secured approval to develop a second property in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation ( IRFC) fell 4.2% to ₹104.82, hitting its lowest level in 25 months on the NSE.

SpiceJet hit the 10% lower circuit at ₹12.88 on the BSE amid heavy block deals, with over 181 million shares changing hands in early trade.

State Bank of India (SBI) fell about 2% to ₹1199, leading banking stocks fall.

HDFC Bank ended marginally down by roughly 0.5% to around ₹907 as private lenders saw selective accumulation.

Bharat Electronics climbed nearly 1% to ₹439 on continued traction in defence stocks.

Reliance Industries slipped about 1.5% to near ₹1400, capping broader market gains.

Tata Steel rose close to 2% to ₹214, tracking overall trend in global metal prices.

Adani Enterprises rose about 2% to ₹2,225 on buying interest in diversified infrastructure plays.

Futures & Options
Nifty 30 March 2026 futures closed at 25,624.90, a premium of 142.40 points over the spot Nifty, which gained 57.85 points or 0.23% to settle at 25,482.50 in the cash market. The wide premium reflected traders rolling positions into the new March series following yesterday's expiry of the February contracts. India VIX declined 4.68% to 13.49, suggesting a meaningful easing of near-term volatility expectations after several sessions of elevated anxiety. Waaree Energies, Infosys and SBI were the most actively traded stock futures contracts in the F&O segment on the NSE. The March 2026 derivative contracts are set to expire on 30 March 2026.

Bonds
The Indian government bond yields eased further on Wednesday, with the benchmark 6.48% 2035 bond yield falling to 6.6777% in early trade from 6.6812% at Tuesday's close, extending a 4-basis point decline over the past two sessions. The rally was driven by strong purchases from the "others" investor category, fuelling market speculation that the Reserve Bank of India may have been among the buyers. The central bank has now purchased ₹6.83 trillion of bonds so far, this financial year and, combined with a cut in the cash reserve ratio and foreign exchange swaps, has injected approximately ₹11.5 trillion of liquidity into the banking system.

Forex
The Indian rupee ended nearly flat on Wednesday, closing at 90.9475 per dollar, barely changed from 90.95 in the previous session, as dollar demand stemming from maturing non-deliverable forward contracts blunted positive impulses from modest inflows and gains across Asian currency peers. Despite expectations of elevated dollar demand tied to NDF maturities through the week, appetite to bet against the rupee has also eased, with market participants wary of taking large short positions given expectations that the Reserve Bank of India stands ready to intervene to curb any sharp decline in the currency.

Crypto
Crypto markets staged a relief rally on Wednesday after a bruising 24 hours, with Bitcoin rebounding to $65,408 after briefly touching the $63,000 level, supported by dip-buying activity and short covering. Ethereum led the recovery among major tokens, rising 4.15%, and all of the world's top ten cryptocurrencies traded in positive territory, offering a tentative sign of stabilisation following the recent tariff-driven selloff.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures climbed modestly on Wednesday ahead of Nvidia's fourth-quarter results due after the market close, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.17%, S&P 500 futures gaining 0.12% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures adding 0.10%. Investor sentiment was also supported by fresh ADP data showing private employers adding around 12,750 jobs per week over the past month, the fastest pace since late November, signalling continued labour market resilience and sustained consumer spending power ahead of the highly anticipated chipmaker's earnings.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury yields edged slightly higher on Wednesday as investors digested President Trump's State of the Union address and continued to assess the evolving trade policy landscape. The benchmark 10-year note yield rose to 4.05%, rebounding modestly from recent three-month lows, as markets weighed hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials against persistent safe-haven demand that has kept a lid on any sharper yield moves.

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