New Delhi, 26 February (H.S.): Indian equity benchmarks closed largely unchanged after a rollercoaster session marked by intense buying and selling pressure. The Sensex dipped marginally by 0.03% to settle at 82,248.61, while the Nifty eked out a 0.06% gain, ending at 25,496.55.
Sectoral Surge and Slump
Auto, oil & gas, and PSU banking stocks led gains throughout the day, alongside pharma, telecom, PSE, metals, IT, capital goods, and tech indices. Media, power, and realty faced selling pressure, dragging down FMCG and consumer durables.
Broader markets shone brighter: Nifty Midcap rose 0.66%, though Smallcap edged down 0.01%.
Investor Windfall
Midcap buying propelled BSE-listed firms' market capitalization to ₹468.46 lakh crore (provisional), up from ₹467.38 lakh crore on Wednesday—a ₹1.08 lakh crore boost for investors.
Intraday Swings
Sensex opened 142.71 points higher at 82,418.78, peaked at 82,579.16 (+303.09 points by 11:30 a.m.), plunged to 81,970.47 (-305.60 points), then recovered to close just 27.46 points off the open. Nifty mirrored the chop: opened at 25,556.30 (+73.80 points), hit 25,572.95, sank to 25,400.95 (-81.55 points), and rebounded to finish +14.05 points.
Trading Snapshot
BSE saw 4,356 active stocks: 2,170 up, 2,030 down, 156 flat. NSE traded 2,921: 1,481 gained, 1,440 declined. Sensex's 30 stocks split 13 up/17 down; Nifty 50 had 21 gainers/29 losers.
Top Gainers: TMPV (+2.54%), Ayushar Motors (+2.27%), Bharat Electronics (+2.22%), Max Healthcare (+2%), Shriram Finance (+1.72%).
Top Losers: Trent Ltd (-1.68%), Eternal (-1.48%), Power Grid Corp (-1.30%), Coal India (-1.16%), Tata Consumer (-1.09%).
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
