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Sensex, Nifty struggle for direction in early deals
Feb-18-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-positive start on Wednesday but markets were struggling for direction and hovering around neutral lines amid lingering concerns about potential disruptions caused by the artificial intelligence buildout. Sensex and Nifty were trading in a narrow range in early deals due to selling in IT and TECK stocks, whereas buying in Metal stocks provided some support. Investors remained on sidelines ahead of release of key economic data from the US in the coming days. However, some support came amid foreign fund inflows as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 995.21 crore, on Tuesday. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, amid thin trading volumes as most of the regional markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea, remain shuttered for the Lunar New Year holidays. Besides, Japan posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade deficit of 1.152 trillion yen in January.

Back home, auto stocks were in focus as rating agency ICRA said that Indian automotive Industry is likely to witness a normalisation of wholesale volume growth in 2026-27 following a period of elevated growth in the second half of 2025-26, which was driven largely by post-GST reform-led factors and favourable rural demand sentiments.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83446.00, down by 4.96 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 83353.54 and 83603.56. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.16%, Basic Materials up by 0.79%, Telecom up by 0.67%, FMCG up by 0.56% and PSU up by 0.42%, while IT down by 1.65%, TECK down by 1.03% and Energy down by 0.07% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.90%, ITC up by 1.34%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.90%, SBI up by 0.77% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.89%, HCL Technologies down by 1.14%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.12% and TCS down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid increasing geopolitical disturbances, India and France have elevated their ties to a ‘special global strategic partnership’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron undertaking significant ramp up of bilateral cooperation in areas of defence, trade and technology. The two leaders also virtually inaugurated an assembly line in Karnataka’s Vemagal to build Airbus H125 helicopters.

Modi said ‘We take pride in the fact that, together, India and France will manufacture in India the world’s only helicopter capable of flying to the heights of Mount Everest and export it to the entire world’. He added ‘The year 2026 is a turning point in the relations between India and Europe. Just a few days ago, we signed the largest and most ambitious Free Trade Agreement in India’s history with the European Union’. He described India-France relationship as a force for global stability.

Recently, India and France had inked an intergovernmental agreement to procure 26 naval variants of Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 64,000 crore for the Indian Navy. India is procuring the jets from French defence major Dassault Aviation for deployment on board aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The delivery of the jets will have to start around five years after signing of the contract.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25741.85, up by 16.45 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 25697.75 and 25759.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 1.95%, Hindalco up by 1.48%, JSW Steel up by 1.34%, ITC up by 1.28% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.89%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.63%, Infosys down by 2.36%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.82%, Wipro down by 1.61% and HCL Technologies down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 722.51 points or 1.28% to 57,289.00 and Jakarta Composite gained 74.73 points or 0.91% to 8,287.00.
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