Mumbai, February 25, 2026, 23:25 IST — Market closed.
- Nifty 50 edged up 0.23%. Sensex added 0.06% but trimmed gains from a more robust start.
- IT stocks and metals bounced back. Reliance dropped, while shares of state-owned banks also ended lower.
- Attention shifts to GDP data revisions due Feb. 27, with markets watching to see if the rebound can stick through Thursday.
Nifty 50 eked out a 0.23% rise to 25,482.50 on Wednesday, while Sensex edged up just 0.06% to close at 82,276.07. Gains in IT and metals did the heavy lifting, even as Reliance Industries slipped 2.1% and late-session buying sputtered. “Investors will stay cautious because AI’s impact on earnings growth and margins remains uncertain,” said Amnish Aggarwal of PL Capital. (Reuters)
That slim uptick is overshadowed by a deeper concern: IT. Through February, Indian equity benchmarks have trailed much of Asia as the Nifty IT index tumbled nearly 21%, erasing about $68.6 billion in value—according to Reuters data, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys accounted for a large chunk of that hit. Motilal Oswal analysts described the AI story as “too strong to shake, at least in the short term.” (Reuters)
Investors got jittery a day ahead of the sell-off. On Tuesday, the Sensex shed 1.28% and the Nifty lost 1.12%, dragged down by a more than 4% slump in IT stocks. Ajit Mishra, SVP (Research) at Religare Broking, advised clients to “remain selective, keep position sizes light” during the turbulence. (Moneycontrol)
Metals picked up steam Wednesday, drawing interest after new calls from brokers. CLSA bumped up target prices for JSW Steel, Tata Steel, and Jindal Steel, highlighting a sharp upswing in steel prices from December’s low point. The rally’s been fueled in part by a safeguard duty—a temporary import levy designed to protect domestic steelmakers from rising imports. (NDTV Profit)
Tata Steel jumped 2.63% to 214.65 rupees, hitting a new 52-week high as rerating swept through steel stocks. The Sensex, stuck in a narrow range, showed little movement over the session. (MarketWatch)
Vedanta caught attention, climbing roughly 5% in intraday action as BofA Securities pushed its rating up to “buy” from “neutral” and hiked the target price to 840 rupees from 480, according to the Economic Times. (The Economic Times)
The indexes pulled back late, erasing most of their earlier gains—Sensex ended up nearly 700 points short of its high, according to Moneycontrol. Provisional figures had foreign investors offloading around 102 crore rupees on Feb. 24, while domestic funds stepped in, picking up a hefty 3,161 crore rupees. One analyst remarked that putting on new longs “after a decisive and sustained breakout above 25,800” on the Nifty seemed the more logical play. (Moneycontrol)
“Investors refrained from aggressive positioning amid the absence of strong domestic triggers,” said Ponmudi R, CEO at Enrich Money, pointing to selective buying and some short covering that helped IT counters. Market technicians cited by Business Today pegged support for the Nifty between 25,350 and 25,400, with supply expected to kick in up around 25,650 to 25,800. (Business Today)
Still, the rebound isn’t convincing. Should IT giants begin flagging AI-related pricing pressure in their guidance, the sector might revisit those February lows. Profit-taking has been swift whenever shares approach resistance.
Elsewhere, a bigger overhaul is looming. India plans to roll out a refreshed GDP series pegged to a 2022/23 base year on Feb. 27, complete with revised historical data. A senior official said the new approach would tap into roughly 500–600 entries pulled from both CPI and WPI baskets, aiming for sharper inflation adjustments in real growth figures. (Reuters)
Next up, traders are eyeing whether the Nifty manages to stick above the mid-25,400s, hoping the IT rally gains traction. Economists speaking to the Economic Times flagged the Feb. 27 GDP series update as “key to reassess India’s growth-inflation mix,” with that data shaping Friday’s outlook. (The Economic Times)
