Equity benchmarks pared early losses to close modestly higher on Tuesday, supported by buying in PSU banks and IT stocks amid steady global cues.

BSE Sensex rose 173.81 points or 0.21 per cent to end at 83,450.96, while the Nifty 50 gained 42.65 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 25,725.40. Gains in index heavyweights such as Adani Enterprises, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro helped lift sentiment, even as the broader market traded in a range-bound manner and sectoral trends remained mixed.

“Domestic markets traded in a range-bound manner, attempting to recover recent losses triggered by lingering concerns over AI-led disruptions,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, noting selective bottom-fishing in IT stocks and outperformance in PSU banks, latter due to positive Q3 earnings and regulatory support.

Echoing the cautious optimism, Abhinav Tiwari, Research Analyst at Bonanza, said the markets “extended their rebound, ending with modest gains as buying in large cap IT, financials and select defensives offset stock-specific pressure,” emphasising that the benchmarks’ second straight positive close pointed to rotation across sectors rather than a runaway rally.

“In the near term, sentiment is likely to remain cautious as investors monitor global developments around AI-driven shifts. However, a resilient GDP outlook, and a stabilising rupee may provide support to renewed FII inflows, Nair added.

Market could see a gradual upward move in the coming months after a prolonged phase of stagnation, supported by an improving earnings outlook but tempered by elevated valuations in consumption sectors, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. The analysts expect FY2027 and FY2028 net profits of the Nifty 50 index to grow 16 per cent and 15 per cent after a muted 8 per cent growth in FY2026.

Stronger GDP growth, recovering consumption demand and export tailwinds should act as a key driver. However, Kotak cautioned that weaker global growth and margin pressures in automobiles and consumer staples remain downside risks.

Volatility index India VIX cooled off sharply ending below 13 mark. Broader market indices ended in the green, with both midcap and smallcap gauges closing higher. Sectoral performance remained mixed — Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT led the gains, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty slipped into negative territory.

Bank Nifty extended its strong outperformance, closing near the 61,200 mark with a gain of 0.37 per cent, Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, said.

Gains in IT stocks were driven by a combination of global optimism and domestic triggers, including momentum from discussions around artificial intelligence at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

Infosys-Anthropic deal reinforced optimism around incremental AI-led deal wins and higher value added work for large Indian IT vendors, according to Abhinav Tiwari Research Analyst at Bonanza.

Defence stocks rose over 1 per cent amid expectations of discussions on additional Rafale jet acquisitions, Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, stated.

Top gainers of Nifty 50

Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Adani Enterprises, ITC, Bharat Electronics, Infosys and L&T emerged as the top gainers, while Kwality Wall’s, Hindalco, Eternal, Tata Steel and Trent were among the biggest losers.

A total of 4,352 stocks were traded on the BSE, of which 2,447 advanced and 1,756 declined, while 149 remained unchanged, indicating a positive market breadth. As many as 116 stocks touched their 52-week highs, compared with 144 that hit 52-week lows. Meanwhile, 12 stocks were locked in the upper circuit, whereas eight stocks were in the lower circuit.

Under the midcap segment, Paytm, M&M Financial, Indian Bank, Cochin Shipyard and Bank of India led the gainers, while SRF, Swiggy, Waaree Energies, National Aluminium, BSE and NMDC dipped the most.

Among the smallcap stocks, Newgen rallied nearly 12 per cent, Aegis Vopak, PCBL, Delhivery and Whirlpool were other counters traded with 4-6 per cent gains, while First Cry, Hindustan Copper, Signature Global and Ola Electric depreciated 3-4 per cent.

On Monday, Sensex ended 650.39 points higher at 83,277.15 and Nifty 50 advanced 211.65 points to 25,682.75. FIIs sold equities worth ₹972.13 crore, while DIIs purchased stocks worth ₹1,666.98 crore, exchange data showed.

On the technical front, the 25,500-25,600 level has now become a critical support level for Nifty 50. On the upside, resistance is expected around 25,900-26,000, and a break above 25,760 could enhance short-term momentum, Gaurav Udani, Founder – ThincRedBlu Securities Pvt. Ltd. added. Bank Nifty showed relative strength compared to the overall market. The first support level is expected to be in the zone of 60,800-60,900. A break above 61,250 could result in a move towards 61,500-61,600 in the coming days, Udani added.

Published on February 17, 2026