Benchmark indices reversed their early gains to trade sharply lower in the afternoon session on Thursday, with the Sensex tumbling as much as 1,036 points and the Nifty 50 slipping around 300 points intraday. Market experts suggest that the decline comes amid profit-booking after three straight sessions of gains, signaling caution rather than a confirmed trend reversal.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Broader markets weak: Midcaps dropped 1% and Smallcaps 0.6%; selling led by realty, media, auto, FMCG and consumer durables.
- ONGC, Hindalco, Infosys and IT names gained, while Trent, M&M, Adani Enterprises and UltraTech Cement led Nifty losses.
- Market breadth negative with declines beating advances; select midcap and smallcap stocks saw stock-specific action.
Sensex shed 708.09 points or 0.85 per cent to trade at 83,026.16 at 12.35 pm, and Nifty 50 declined by 201.10 points or 0.78 per cent to 25,618.25.
The Nifty continues to hold above the crucial 25,150–25,200 support zone, which remains the key level to watch, Drumil Vithlani, Technical Analyst at Bonanza, said.
As long as the index sustains above 25,150, the broader recovery structure remains intact, with potential to retest 26,000–26,200. However, a decisive break below support could trigger renewed selling pressure and open the door for 24,800 in the near term, Vithlani added.
The midcap index shed close to 1 per cent, while the smallcap index slid by 0.60 per cent at the time of writing.
Sectorally, early strength in IT stocks — seen as a tactical rebound from AI-driven selloff fears — faded, but managed to stay resilient, and broad-based selling hit most sectoral indices led by realty, media, consumer durables, auto and FMCG.
Top gainers & losers on Nifty 50
Among the Nifty 50 pack, only ONGCHindalco, InfosysDr Reddy’s Laborotories, TCS and Wipro traded in the green, while Kwality Wall’s, Trent, M&M, Adani Enterprises and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.
Market breadth remained weak, with 3,101 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange during the session, and declines significantly outpacing advances. A total of 2,015 stocks fell, compared with 972 gainers, while 114 remained unchanged, reflecting broad selling pressure.
Despite the negative sentiment, 74 stocks touched their 52-week highs, against 69 hitting lows. Meanwhile, 68 stocks were locked in the upper circuit and 22 in the lower circuit.
Godfrey Phillips, Aurobindo Pharma, Oil India, Biocon and IRCTC soared 1-3 per cent under the midcap segment, while Persistent Systems, Paytm, Dixon Tech, 360 ONE WAM and Hindustan Petroleum declined 2-3 per cent.
Smallcap stocks Newgen Software, MRPL, MCX, Tata Chemicals and HSCL gained 2-14 per cent, while Aditya Birla Real Estate, Jindal Saw, First Cry, Kaynes Tech and Angel One fell 2-4 per cent.
On the BSE, Newgen Software, Tata Investment and Netweb led the gainers, with a 7-14 per cent uptick, while ABREL, Force Motors and GE Vernova shed over 4-5 per cent.
Published on February 19, 2026