Benchmark equity indices finished firmly higher on Monday, buoyed by robust buying in banks and financial counters. The Nifty reversed its two-day slide and settled above the 25,650 mark after a sharp intraday recovery.

The session began on a cautious note amid mixed global signals, with the Nifty slipping to 25,372.70 in early trade. However, strong domestic buying quickly reversed the trend, triggering a steady upmove through the day. Gains gathered momentum in the latter half of the session, lifting the index to an intraday high of 25,697 before it closed near the day's peak.

The S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 650.39 points or 0.79% to 83,277.15. The Nifty 50 index rallied 211.65 points or 0.83% to 25,682.75. The 50-unit index fell 1.86% in the past two sessions.

HDFC Bank (up 2.39%), Axis Bank (up 1.93%) and Reliance Industries (up 1.02%) boosted the Nifty higher.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index climbed 0.64% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 0.16%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,747 shares rose and 2,565 shares fell. A total of 201 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.28% to 13.33.

Economy:

India's wholesale price index (WPI) inflation accelerated to 1.81% in January 2026 from 0.83% in December 2025. The uptick was driven by higher prices in basic metals, other manufacturing, non-food articles, food articles and textiles, among other categories.

Food inflation rose to 1.41% in January after remaining flat at 0.00% in the previous month.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.15% to 6.667 compared with the previous session close of 6.677.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.6600 compared with its close of 90.6650 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement shed 0.36% to Rs 155,333.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.08% to 96.91.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.10% to 4.056.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement lost 25 cents or 0.37% to $67.50 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones index futures are currently up by 214 points, signaling a strong opening for US stocks in the next session. The US stock market will remain closed for trading on Monday, February 16, in observance of Presidents' Day.

European markets traded higher on Monday, supported by a generally positive earnings season, although holidays in Asia and the U.S. have resulted in subdued activity.

Asian indices ended mixed as several major financial centres remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, resulting in thin trading activity, while weak economic data from Japan weighed on investor sentiment.

Markets in China, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States were closed, keeping activity in currencies, commodities, and bond markets largely subdued.

Japan reported that its economy grew just 0.1% on an annualized basis in the December quarter, much lower than expectations, mainly due to lower government spending.

The weak data highlights the challenges facing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and may strengthen the case for additional government spending to support growth.

Wall Street markets were mostly steady on Friday after January inflation data came in largely in line with expectations. The S&P 500 ended flat at 6,836.17 points. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% to 49,500.93 points.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that consumer prices rose 0.2% in January compared to the previous month and increased 2.4% compared to a year earlier.

The inflation numbers offered only limited support to stocks, as hopes of lower interest rates were offset by ongoing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on businesses.

New listing:

Shares of Fractal Analytics ended at Rs 847.40 on the BSE, a discount of 5.84% compared with the issue price of Rs 900.

The scrip was listed at 900, matching the initial public offer (IPO) price. The stock has hit a high of 900 and a low of 832.10. On the BSE, over 4.21 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

Shares of Aye Finance closed at Rs 128.90 on the BSE, a discount of 0.08% compared with the issue price of Rs 129.

The scrip was listed at 129, matching the initial public offer (IPO) price. The stock has hit a high of 132.75 and a low of 120.60. On the BSE, 13.16 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of Kwality Wall's (India) began trading on the bourses on Monday, marking the standalone listing of the ice cream business following its demerger from Hindustan Unilever. The stock listed at Rs 29.90 on the BSE and at Rs 29.80 on the NSE, below the adjusted reference prices of Rs 38.15 on the BSE and Rs 40.20 on the NSE. It settled at Rs 29.51 on the BSE and Rs 29.20 on the NSE.

Precision Wires India soared 15.14% after the company's standalone net profit jumped 98.89% to Rs 37.69 crore on a 36.55% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1336.93 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

CarTrade Tech surged 5.37% after the company announced the rollout of its multi-agent AI ecosystem, a technology-led initiative aimed at enhancing customer experience and accelerating margin expansion across its platforms.

Tenneco Clean Air India declined 2.19% after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 5.21% to Rs 118.68 crore despite a 14.23% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 1285.26 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

KFin Technologies rallied 3.40% after the company's consolidated net profit increased 2.02% to Rs 91.99 crore on a 27.88% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 370.87 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Titagarh Rail Systems fell 1.59% after its consolidated net profit tanked 23.48% to Rs 48.03 crore in Q3 FY26 as against Rs 62.77 crore posted in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations decreased 7.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 832.06 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2025.

Shakti Pumps India slumped 11.83% after its consolidated net profit declined 69.53% to Rs 31.70 crore in Q3 FY26 as against Rs 104.05 crore posted in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations decreased 15.07% to Rs 550.99 crore in Q3 FY26 as against Rs 648.77 crore reported in Q3 FY25.

Ola Electric Mobility fell 6.70% after the company's net loss for the quarter stood at Rs 487 crore, widening from Rs 418 crore in Q2 FY26 but narrowing compared with Rs 564 crore in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 470 crore, declining 55.0% YoY from Rs 1,045 crore and 31.9% QoQ from Rs 690 crore.

CRISIL rose 3.38% after the company reported a 7.5% increase in profit after tax to Rs 241.5 crore in Q4 2025, compared with Rs 224.7 crore in Q4 2024. Total income for Q4 2025 rose 17.5% to Rs 1,108.7 crore from Rs 943.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

GK Energy was locked in a 5% upper circuit after the company reported a 57.74% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 58.83 crore on a 43.6% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 460.20 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

Vikran Engineering declined 10.21% after the company reported a 37.9% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 20.91 crore on a 0.5% rise in net sales to Rs 266.46 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News