Equities Rebound on Banking Heavyweights, Snap Two-day Slide

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

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India Shares rise

By Dehuti Jani

February 16, 2026 at 11:43 AM IST

Indian equity benchmarks recovered on Monday, snapping a two-session losing streak as value buying in heavyweights such as HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries lifted sentiment after recent IT-led weakness. The NSE Nifty50 rose 211.65 points, or 0.83%, to close at 25,682.75, while the BSE Sensex gained 650.39 points, or 0.79%, to settle at 83,277.15.

Among Sensex constituents, Power Grid, Axis Bank, NTPC, ITC and Asian Paints led gains, rising to 4.5%. On the downside, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance, M&M and Trent India slipped up to 1.3%.

Capital market-linked stocks such as BSE, Angel One and MCX fell up to 10% after the Reserve Bank of India revised capital market exposure norms, with brokerages noting tighter funding conditions for intermediaries. Broader markets ended higher, with the Nifty MidCap and Nifty SmallCap indices gaining 0.48% and 0.11%, respectively. Sectorally, realty, PSU banks, private banks and pharma outperformed, while auto and metal shares remained under pressure.

Top Movers of the Day

HDFC Bank led the market gains, surging 2.39% to close at ₹925.50. The stock snapped a seven-day losing streak due to massive value buying and strategic positioning in the derivatives market.

Reliance Industries demonstrated a notable late-session rebound, appreciating by more than 2% from its intraday lows. Following a three-day downturn, RIL attracted substantial buying activity during the final hours of trading, contributing considerably to the positive movement of the benchmark indices.

Precision Wires India surged 17% to a fresh high on Monday after reporting a 99% YoY jump in Q3FY26 standalone net profit to ₹37.69 crore, as traders reacted positively to multiple business updates.

Fractal Analytics made a subdued debut, listing at ₹876 on the NSE, a 2.7% discount to its ₹900 issue price, and later slipped nearly 5% below the offer price in afternoon trade.

Inox Wind crashed 8% to a 52-week low of ₹97.50 after reporting weak Q3 execution and earnings miss that triggered target cuts by brokerages.

Engineers India rallied 9% to ₹219.90, a six-month high, extending its two-day surge to 22% amid heavy volumes.

Shakti Pumps (India) slumped 14% to ₹552.10, its lowest level since December 11, 2025, following its Q3FY26 results.

Religare Enterprises fell over 5% intraday after approving a demerger plan to split its financial services and insurance businesses into separately listed entities.

Canara Bank rose 2.3% to ₹145.04, outperforming the broader PSU Bank index during intra-day trade.

Bharat Heavy Electricals gained 1% to ₹258.45 after the government successfully completed its stake sale through an OFS last week.

Blue Jet Healthcare dropped 10% to a 52-week low of ₹357.75, extending Friday’s losses after disappointing Q3FY26 earnings.

KFin Technologies advanced 5.5% to an intraday high of ₹1,022, trading around ₹1,018.15, supported by strong buying interest.

GMR Airports jumped 6.2% to ₹99.86 after posting Q3FY26 results and reporting improved monthly traffic data.

Billionbrains Garage Ventures (Groww parent) tumbled nearly 5% to ₹164.50 after JM Financial initiated coverage with a ‘Sell’ rating, citing a potential 13.5% downside.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals climbed nearly 6% to hit a fresh high after delivering Q3FY26 earnings in line with Street expectations.

RACL Geartech soared 14% to a 52-week high of ₹1,366 after reporting strong Q3FY26 earnings.

Futures & Options
Nifty February 2026 futures settled at 25,728, commanding a premium of 45.25 points over the Nifty’s cash close of 25,682.75. In the spot market, the Nifty 50 gained 211.65 points or 0.83%. The NSE’s India VIX edged up 0.28% to 13.33, indicating a marginal uptick in near-term volatility expectations. Infosys, HDFC Bank and BSE emerged as the most actively traded stock futures on the NSE F&O segment. The February 2026 F&O series will expire on 24 February 2026.

Bonds
India's 10-year government bond yield closed at 6.6642%, down from 6.6799% last Friday, as lower US Treasury yields provided support. Despite stabilising around 6.68%, concerns about record borrowing in the next fiscal year persist, keeping supply pressures high. Softer US inflation data pushed US Treasury yields to 4.05%, anchoring domestic yields. Traders expect yields to stay elevated due to upcoming heavy issuances. Recent RBI restrictions on speculative lending had minimal immediate effect on bond pricing.

Forex
The rupee ended nearly flat on Monday, moving in a narrow 10-paise range to close at 90.65 per dollar versus 90.6350 in the previous session. Routine corporate dollar demand was offset by steady inflows, keeping the currency largely rangebound as the initial optimism from the US-India trade deal faded and traders refocused on day-to-day flow dynamics and global cues.

Crypto
Crypto market traded under pressure, with risk sentiment weakening amid continued regulatory uncertainty in the US and lack of clarity around the proposed CLARITY Act. Bitcoin fell 2.19% to $68,670.70, as traders trimmed exposure and rotated into stablecoins, reflecting a defensive shift in positioning. Liquidations increased across major exchanges, capping any attempt at a sustained rebound. Ethereum underperformed, dropping 5.36% to $1,965.56, while broader altcoins remained in the red. Dogecoin was among the sharpest decliners, tumbling 10.91% as high-beta tokens bore the brunt of risk-off flows.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures advanced in early trade after softer January inflation data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve may have room to ease policy later this year. Headline CPI came in at 2.4%, with core CPI at 2.5%, suggesting price pressures are moderating toward the Fed’s comfort zone. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose around 0.3%–0.4%, while Dow futures also traded modestly higher, as investors rotated back into rate-sensitive growth stocks following the inflation print.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury yields were steady to slightly lower after softer-than-expected January inflation data reinforced expectations of a potential rate cut later this year. The benchmark 10-year yield hovered around 4.05%–4.07%, near its lowest level since November, while the policy-sensitive 2-year yield eased to about 3.41%–3.42%. Cooling headline CPI at 2.4% has strengthened market bets that the Federal Reserve could begin easing policy as early as July 2026, keeping downward pressure on yields.

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