BENGALURU, Feb 20, 2026, 22:40 IST — Market has wrapped up for the day.
Indian equities posted a slight gain on Friday, but late-session profit-booking pared back earlier advances. The Nifty 50 closed up 0.46% at 25,571.25, with the Sensex finishing 0.38% higher at 82,814.71. Midcaps managed a small uptick; smallcaps lost ground. (Business Standard)
This shift came right behind Thursday’s steep declines: Nifty slid 1.41%, Sensex lost 1.48%, both jolted by U.S.-Iran flare-ups that fueled oil and rattled risk. “Any sustained rise in oil prices feeds straight into market sentiment,” said Aishvarya Dadheech, fund manager at Fident Asset Management. (Reuters)
Nifty gained 0.4% for the week, while Sensex edged up 0.2%, with state-run banks punching above their weight on earnings hopes. “PSU banks have been beating expectations while private sector banks have been lagging,” wrote Suresh Ganapathy at Macquarie. Sunil Singhania of Abakkus AMC pointed to AI disruption and geopolitical risks as short-term headwinds. (Reuters)
The rupee weakened further, dropping to 90.9825 against the U.S. dollar and logging its sharpest weekly decline in over a month. Brent crude hovered near $71.5 a barrel, gaining close to 5% for the week. ING analysts pointed out that the dollar tends to serve “more efficiently as a safe haven” when geopolitical tensions drive up crude prices. (Reuters)
A deal headline jolted a slice of the market. Novartis announced plans to offload its full 70.68% holding in Novartis India to a consortium led by private equity, in a transaction valued at roughly $159 million. That set off a mandatory open offer and sent the shares soaring close to 20%. (Reuters)
Hindalco Industries, NTPC, SBI Life, Larsen & Toubro, and Coal India landed near the top of the Nifty gainers’ list on the day. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, HCL Technologies and Grasim, on the other hand, lost ground. Action in the broader market was choppy—over 200 stocks set fresh 52-week lows, even as benchmarks finished in positive territory. (Moneycontrol)
Volatility held its ground. India VIX ticked up to 14.36, hovering close to levels last seen eight months ago. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments, flagged ongoing geopolitical risks and potential oil supply disruptions as reasons markets might trade warily for now. (Moneycontrol)
Growth signals held up in the macro data. India’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit 59.3, the highest reading since November—above the 50 mark that signals expansion. Manufacturing advanced to 57.5; services stayed steady at 58.4. The survey also flagged mounting price pressures. (Reuters)
Rate expectations barely budged. The Reserve Bank of India’s February meeting minutes revealed that most members didn’t see much scope for rate cuts and opted to leave the repo rate — its main lending benchmark — untouched. Governor Sanjay Malhotra called the “current policy rate… appropriate,” with the committee set to review GDP figures for October-December next week. (Reuters)
The RBI noted in its latest bulletin that trade deals struck with both the European Union and the United States helped swing foreign portfolio flows back into positive territory in February, following a stretch of outflows. The central bank also highlighted the government’s push to bring the fiscal deficit down to 4.3% of GDP and increase capital spending, saying both measures should support growth. (Reuters)
IT stocks continue to drag. Foreign institutional investors have yanked roughly 109.56 billion rupees—close to $1.2 billion—out of Indian IT shares in just the first half of February. It’s clear that anxiety over AI-driven upheaval is still shaping the trade. (The Economic Times)
Monday’s session sees traders zeroing in on crude, the rupee, and a fresh batch of local data. The statistics ministry has put out a date—Feb. 27—for the rollout of its new GDP series using 2022–23 as the base year, a shift that’s likely to intensify arguments over growth, inflation, and what lies ahead for rates. (Gov)
