Sensex Ends Flat, Nifty Closes Below 25,500 After Volatile Trade; IT Rebounds, Financials Drag

Mumbai | February 26

Indian equity benchmarks ended largely unchanged on Thursday after a choppy trading session, as the market failed to hold early gains following a gap-up opening.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled at 25,496.55, up 14.05 points (0.06%), closing below the 25,500 mark. The BSE Sensex declined 27.46 points (0.03%) to finish at 82,248.61. During the session, the Sensex dropped over 400 points from its intraday high, while the Nifty briefly tested levels near 25,400 before recovering.

The session opened on a positive note, tracking a strong overnight rally on Wall Street and a historic milestone for Japan’s Nikkei 225, which crossed the 59,000 mark for the first time. Indian IT majors such as Infosys and TCS saw renewed buying interest following strong quarterly results from global AI chipmaker Nvidia, which helped ease concerns around technology spending. However, the initial gains were gradually eroded as the financial sector faced headwinds. HDFC Bank emerged as the primary drag on both indices, alongside State Bank of India, as investors rotated toward defensive pockets.

IT and Healthcare Support, Financials Cap Upside

Sectoral performance remained mixed through the day.

The Nifty IT index rebounded after recent weakness, while healthcare and pharma stocks led gains, with their respective indices rising over 1%. Auto, oil & gas, metal and PSU Bank stocks also saw selective buying interest.

However, selling pressure in financial heavyweights capped the upside, preventing the benchmarks from sustaining intraday highs.

Other than that, media index declined around 0.7% and FMCG also ended lower.

Broader Markets

Broader indices showed relative resilience compared to the benchmarks.

The Nifty Midcap index gained around 0.6%, while the Smallcap index ended largely flat. Nifty Bank advanced 144 points to settle at 61,188, supported by strength in PSU banking names despite pressure in large-cap private lenders.

Market breadth remained neutral, with the NSE advance-decline ratio near 1:1, reflecting balanced participation.

Nifty Gainers and Losers

Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors were among the key gainers on the Nifty.

On the losing side, HDFC Bank, Trent, Coal India, Eternal and Power Grid featured among the notable laggards.

What to Watch Tomorrow

Investors remain focused on upcoming domestic GDP data and global developments, including U.S.–Iran discussions and U.S. macro data releases, which could influence near-term sentiment.

The Indian rupee ended marginally stronger at around 90.92 per dollar.

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