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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Feb-16-2026

Indian equity benchmarks ended with significant gains on Monday, led by strength in Realty, Pharma and banking stocks. After a cautious start, soon indices turned positive and remained higher for the rest of the session, as traders opted for value buying in beaten-down stocks.

Some of the important factors in trade:

FPIs invest Rs 19,675 crore into Indian equities in early February: Some support came as Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) staged a sharp turnaround in early February, pumping Rs 19,675 crore into Indian equities in the first fortnight, supported by the US-India trade deal and easing global macro concerns.

India's WPI inflation sees rise in January: Traders overlooked report that wholesale price inflation extended upward momentum for the third straight month, at 1.81 per cent in January, driven by an uptick in prices of food, non-food articles, and manufactured items on a month-on-month basis.

Sugar stocks remained in focus: The All-India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) said that India has exported 2,01,547 tonnes of sugar through February in the current 2025-26 marketing year, with the United Arab Emirates the top destination.

On the global front: European equity markets were trading in green, ahead of Eurozone industrial output data due later in the day. Asian markets ended in green in a thin volume trading session with most of the markets remaining shut.

The BSE Sensex ended at 83277.15, up by 650.39 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 82276.95 and 83333.49. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.40%, Utilities up by 2.15%, Realty up by 1.44%, PSU up by 1.30% and Bankex up by 1.20%, while Auto down by 0.79% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.32% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corp up by 4.56%, HDFC Bank up by 2.25%, Axis Bank up by 1.93%, NTPC up by 1.60% and ITC up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.32%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.13%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.78% and Trent down by 0.78% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the interim trade agreement reached between the Centre and the US will cover India’s energy requirements and enable the country to obtain crude oil at more competitive rates. He said that India and the US have decided to work towards increasing the annual trade between the two countries to $500 billion by 2030, and the government is working to meet this goal.

He said the proposed $500 billion trade would include India’s energy requirements, including crude oil, LNG and LPG. He mentioned ‘India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, and its energy demand is rising by around 7 per cent annually. Increasing imports and having more suppliers would help India secure crude oil at more competitive prices.’

Earlier, India and the US announced that they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade. The US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, while India will remove or reduce import duties on all US industrial products and a wide range of American food and agricultural products. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 25682.75, up by 211.65 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 25372.70 and 25697.00. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corp up by 4.63%, Coal India up by 3.31%, HDFC Bank up by 2.42%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.25% and Max Healthcare Inst up by 2.11%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.41%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.22%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.17%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 0.79% and Eicher Motors down by 0.68% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; France’s CAC rose 20.16 points or 0.24% to 8,331.90, Germany’s DAX gained 46.42 points or 0.19% to 24,961.30 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.6 points or 0.15% to 10,461.95.

Asian markets settled mostly higher in thin trade on Monday, with China, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan markets closing for Lunar New Year holidays. Market sentiments improved further as softer-than-expected US inflation data boosted bets that the Federal Reserve will deliver at least two interest rate cuts this year. Markets were showing signs of stabilization after a tech-led plunge last week, when traders reacted to growing concern about the hundreds of billions spent on AI infrastructure and when, if ever, they might see a return on them.  However, Japan’s Nikkei fell after Japan reported its economy grew a miserly 0.2% annualised in the December quarter, far below the 1.6% gain forecast as government spending dragged on activity. Meanwhile, investors were closely watching upcoming macro cues, including the FOMC meeting minutes, the US GDP advance estimate, and PCE inflation data, for clearer signals on the timing and pace of the Fed’s next policy move.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

--

--

--

Hang Seng

26,705.94

138.82

0.52

Jakarta Composite

--

--

--

KLSE Composite

1,741.26

1.72

0.10

Nikkei 225

56,806.41

-135.56

-0.24

Straits Times

4,938.58

0.80

0.02

KOSPI Composite

--

--

--

Taiwan Weighted

--

--

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