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Markets give up opening gains to trade lower in early deals
Feb-19-2026

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Thursday tacking overnight gains on Wall Street as well as firm trade in Asian counterparts primarily boosted by substantial strength among technology stocks, which mirrored their peers on the tech-heavy Nasdaq as concerns eased over AI-related disruptions. Besides, the value of core machinery orders in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 19.1 percent on month in December. Closer home, Sensex and Nifty soon gave up opening gains and entered into red terrain to trade lower in early deals amid sharp rise in crude oil prices due to worries that the U.S. may take military action against Iran. Traders also reacted to Crisil’s report which showed that the retail inflation is likely to rise to around 4.3% in fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) from an estimated 2.5% for FY26.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83609.93, down by 124.32 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 83562.04 and 83979.36. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.95%, TECK up by 0.56%, Auto up by 0.21%, Healthcare up by 0.11% and Basic Materials up by 0.02%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.65%, Power down by 0.59%, Capital Goods down by 0.56%, Industrials down by 0.43% and Realty down by 0.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.25%, Infosys up by 1.20%, TCS up by 1.09%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.67% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.47%. On the flip side, Kwality Walls (India) down by 2.11%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.09%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.00%, Asian Paints down by 0.98% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil in its latest report has said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation or retail inflation is likely to rise to around 4.3% in fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) from an estimated 2.5% for FY26. With assumption of a normal monsoon in 2026, it noted that food prices are likely to remain broadly benign, while a low base effect will push food inflation higher than FY26. It also said the reduced weight of food in the new series should limit the extent of this rise. The weight of food in the revised CPI series has declined to 36.75% from 45.86% earlier

As per the report, non-food inflation, supported by easing precious metals inflation and benign global oil and commodity prices, should restrain the overall inflation. This would allow the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee to maintain its pause on the repo rate and focus on the transmission of the 125 bps rate cut carried out in calendar year 2025.

The report said the weight of the core CPI index has increased to 57.89% from 47.3%, strengthening its influence on the headline inflation. In the first nine months of FY26, core inflation rose faster than the headline print, led by a sharp spike in gold and silver inflation. With this high base and amid expectations of benign global oil and commodity prices, core inflation is likely to be moderate in FY27.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25782.65, down by 36.70 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 25773.40 and 25885.30. There were 13 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.70%, Eicher Motors up by 1.31%, Infosys up by 1.30%, HCL Technologies up by 1.20% and TCS up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Kwality Walls (India) down by 2.15%, Interglobe Aviation down by 2.13%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.02%, Asian Paints down by 0.93% and Bharat Electronics down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 538.16 points or 0.94% to 57,682.00, KOSPI jumped 160.41 points or 2.91% to 5,667.42, Straits Times gained 54 points or 1.09% to 4,992.58 and Jakarta Composite was up by 8.34 points or 0.1% to 8,318.57.
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