Stock market today: Sensex rises 280 points, Nifty 50 ends above 25,800— 10 key highlights

The Indian stock market witnessed decent across-segment buying on Wednesday, February 18, amid positive global cues.

Extending gains for the third consecutive session, the Sensex ended 283 points, or 0.34%, higher at 83,734.25, while the Nifty 50 settled at 25,819.35, up 94 points, or 0.37%.

The market witnessed buying across segments, as the BSE 150 MidCap Index also ended with a decent gain of 0.50%, while the BSE 250 SmallCap Index climbed 0.39%.

Investors got richer by about ₹2 lakh crore in a single session as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose to nearly ₹472 lakh crore from ₹470 lakh crore in the previous session.

Indian stock market today: 10 key highlights

1. Why did the Indian stock market rise today?

The domestic market ended higher on fag-end buying in select heavyweights. With Q3 results over and most domestic macro triggers, including the Budget and RBI policy, behind, the market is witnessing stock- and sector-specific movement.

"Indian markets witnessed a late surge driven by broad‑based buying after a cautious start, as positive domestic sectoral cues helped offset lingering global uncertainties. Banking and financial stocks remained resilient on the back of steady asset‑quality expectations, while selective buying in FMCG names contributed to relative outperformance," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, noted.

"On the earnings front, Q3FY26 results for the Nifty 500 were broadly in line with expectations, underscoring that while growth trends remain mixed, the domestic macro environment continues to offer medium‑term stability," said Nair.

2. Top Nifty 50 gainers

As many as 31 stocks ended higher in the Nifty 50 index, among which Kwality Wall's (India) (up 4.94%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 3.37%), Tata Steel (up 2.93%), ITC (up 2.15%), and Bajaj Auto (up 1.56%) ended as the top gainers.

3. Top losers in the Nifty 50 index

Wipro (down 1.73%), Eternal (down 1.47%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.41%), Infosys (down 1.26%), and Tech Mahindra (down 1.25%) ended as the top losers in the index.

4. Sectoral indices today

Barring Nifty IT (down 1.23%), all sectoral indices ended higher. Nifty Metal (up 1.33%), PSU Bank (up 1.31%), and FMCG (up 1.21%) ended with strong gains.

Nifty Bank rose 0.62% to end at 61,550.80. Nifty Financial Services, too, rose by 0.62%.

5. Most active counters in terms of volume

Easy Trip Planners (71.10 crore shares), Vodafone Idea (35.90 crore shares), and Filatex Fashions (12.5 crore shares) were the most active counters in terms of volume on the NSE.

6. Advance-decline ratio

The advance-decline ratio remained in favour of advancers as over 2,200 stocks advanced while over 1,900 declined on the BSE.

7. 14 stocks jump over 15% on BSE

Godfrey Phillips India, Ratnamani Metals & Tubes, NDL Ventures, Universus Photo Imagings, Gokul Refoils & Solvent, and BLB were among the 14 stocks that jumped over 15% on the BSE.

8. Over 110 stocks hit 52-week highs

Some 112 stocks, including Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Auto, Cummins India, Indus Towers, JSW Steel, and Marico, hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.

9. 100 stocks hit 52-week lows

Some 100 stocks, including Info Edge (India), L&T Technology Services, Brainbees Solutions, and Cello World, hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on the BSE.

10. Nifty's technical outlook

Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities, the immediate resistance for Nifty is placed in the 25,900–25,950 zone.

"Any sustainable move above this zone could result in Nifty extending its up move towards 26,100, followed by 26,300 in the short term. On the downside, the zone of 25,700–25,650 is likely to act as an immediate support," said Shah.

Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said on the downside, initial support is placed near 25,650, followed by a stronger demand base in the 25,600–25,550 range.

"As long as the index sustains above these levels, the broader bias remains mildly positive," said Ponmudi.

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