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Bourses extend gains in early afternoon session
Feb-20-2026

Indian markets extended their gains in early afternoon session despite geopolitical tensions. Traders took note of report that India's private sector activity strengthened further in February, with the HSBC Flash India PMI Composite Output Index rising to 59.3 from 58.4 in January, marking the strongest rate of expansion in three months. Besides, the Commerce Ministry data has showed that India's exports of agricultural products and automobiles are making greater inroads into European markets, recording healthy growth during April-December 2025. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed even after manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in February, and at a faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.8. That's up from 51.5 in January and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83113.10, up by 614.96 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 82206.21 and 83114.89. There were 23 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.18%, Capital Goods up by 1.95%, Utilities up by 1.59%, Industrials up by 1.56% and Metal was up by 1.47%, while IT down by 0.44% and TECK down by 0.18% was the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.25%, NTPC up by 2.20%, Power Grid Corp up by 2.16%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.09% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.76%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.53%, Eternal down by 0.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.33% and HCL Tech down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the former British prime minister Rishi Sunak has said that India is well positioned to be a leader in AI and demonstrate its mass adoption and deployment in society, supported by deep talent pool, strong digital public infrastructure, and very supportive public stance towards technology. He added that India has recognised that leadership in technology doesn't just depend on inventing technology, it's about how you deploy it. Besides, India has moved into third place from seventh for AI competitiveness and ecosystem vibrancy in Stanford Global AI Vibrancy 2025 report. Sunak noted that this demonstrates that focus on adoption and deployment is working for India, and will have the impact on the large number of people.

He highlighted the difference of perception towards artificial intelligence (AI) of the Western countries and India. He noted that there is an incredible optimism and trust towards AI in India, while the West is experiencing anxiety towards AI. He underlined that for political leaders, ‘AI can't be some specialist subject on the side’, it's got to become the ‘central responsibility’ of a government.

Moreover, he pointed that the world is on the ‘cusp of a moment’ where access to best education and healthcare could be brought to people with AI. On the anxiety around AI’s impact on jobs, he said that AI is going to change the labour market and will eliminate some jobs while altering the nature of other jobs. However, the government will have to play the key role of supporting people to take on these new tasks, new roles with confidence and security.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25648.10, up by 193.75 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 25379.75 and 25651.55. There were 42 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.63%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.19%, NTPC up by 2.19%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.18% and Bharat Electronics up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.80%, Grasim Industries down by 0.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.35%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.34% and Eternal down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 644.83 points or 1.13% to 56,823.00, Hang Seng declined 225.94 points or 0.85% to 26,480.00 and Jakarta Composite was down 12.93 points or 0.16% to 8,261.15. On the flip Side, Straits Times rose 13.1 points or 0.26% to 5,014.66 and KOSPI was up by 131.28 points or 2.26% to 5,808.53.
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