Indian equities ended marginally higher on February 25, with gains in mid and small caps cushioning weakness in select heavyweight stocks.
The benchmark indices moved in a narrow range by the close after a volatile session. The Sensex settled at 82,276.07, up 50 points or 0.06 percent, while the Nifty 50 ended 58 points, or 0.23 percent, higher at 25,482.50.
Markets opened firm, tracking positive global cues. The Sensex climbed as much as 732 points during the day and the Nifty briefly reclaimed the 25,652 mark. However, profit booking in select heavyweights trimmed most of the gains by the closing bell.
Among the key drags on the Sensex were Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and ITC. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra and Mahindra, Infosys and Tata Steel provided support.
Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments said initial strength tapered off after renewed tariff-related remarks from the US President reignited global trade concerns. Depreciation in the rupee also weighed on sentiment. He added that developments around US-Iran tensions, AI-related news flow and further tariff signals could influence markets in the near term.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks.
The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.67 percent and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index gained 0.48 percent. Strong traction in these segments lifted overall investor wealth by more than ₹1 lakh-crore in a single session.
The cumulative market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies increased to over ₹467 lakh-crore from ₹465.6 lakh-crore in the previous session.
Most sectoral indices ended in positive territory:
Nifty Metal rose 2.70 percent
Nifty Auto gained 1.85 percent
Nifty Pharma advanced 1.85 percent
Nifty IT climbed 1.57 percent
On the downside:
Nifty PSU Bank fell 0.39 percent
Nifty FMCG slipped 0.25 percent
Nifty Realty declined 0.19 percent
Nifty Oil and Gas edged down 0.18 percent
The Nifty Bank index was largely flat, closing 0.01 percent lower at 61,043.35.
Among Nifty 50 stocks, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel were the top gainers, rising up to nearly 3 percent. Reliance Industries, SBI and Adani Ports were the major laggards, falling up to 2 percent.
Vodafone Idea, Tata Silver ETF and Eternal were the most active counters by volume on the NSE.
Market breadth remained weak. On the BSE, over 2,000 stocks advanced while more than 2,100 declined.
As many as 114 stocks hit fresh 52-week highs during intraday trade, including NTPC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Bank of Baroda. At the same time, 323 stocks touched 52-week lows, reflecting continued stock-specific volatility beneath the headline indices.