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Over 35 Nifty stocks settled in the green, with Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries emerging as the top contributors to the index’s gains. Market breadth remained neutral, as the NSE advance-decline ratio stood at 1:1.Nifty Bank outperformed, climbing 432 points to 61,172, led by strong buying in Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank. The Midcap index gained 286 points to end at 59,514.However, IT stocks remained under pressure. Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, and Coforge were among the top losers, as Nifty IT continued to underperform, down 17% over the past three weeks.Among individual stocks, PB Fintech rose over 3% after Kotak Institutional Equities upgraded the stock to ‘Add’ from ‘Reduce’. ABB India gained nearly 5% after posting Q4CY25 results in line with estimates. Novartis India hit the 20% upper circuit after its Swiss parent agreed to sell a 71% stake to a ChrysCapital-led consortium. DEE Development Engineers surged over 12% after bagging an international order worth $40 million.In the broader market, Tube Investments, Bharat Dynamics, and Ashok Leyland were among the top midcap gainers, while Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Trent, M&M, and Jio Financial Services featured among the key Nifty laggards.

Indian equity benchmarks finished on a strong note on February 20, with the Nifty settling above the 25,550 mark.

On the upside, Hindalco Industries, NTPC, SBI Life, Larsen & Toubro and Coal India led the gains. On the other hand, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, HCL Technologies and Grasim Industries ended among the top laggards.

Barring IT and media, all sectoral indices closed in the green. Power, metal, capital goods and PSU Bank indices advanced 1–2%, lending support to the broader market.

The BSE midcap index rose 0.4%, while the smallcap index ended marginally in the red.RPP Infra Projects has secured a ₹205.89 crore work order from the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for the establishment of a Global Sports City in Chennai.The company said the order pertains to the development of the proposed sports infrastructure project in the state capital.Shares of RPP Infra Projects were trading at ₹85.78, up ₹7.70 or 9.86%. The stock touched an intraday high of ₹86.48 and a low of ₹77.42.Trading volumes stood at 4,504 shares, lower than the five-day average of 6,631 shares, marking a decline of 32.08%.Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner and CIO at Complete Circle, remains constructive on select auto names, particularly in the two-wheeler and auto ancillary space.He highlighted TVS Motor Company as a strong performer, noting that its iQube continues to gain market share. The company is doing well across segments, with improving operating margins.Among ancillary plays, Chadha pointed to UNO Minda and said his firm has recently added Rajratan Global Wireto the portfolio. Rajratan, which manufactures bead wires for tyres, saw disruption in its Thailand business post-COVID due to Chinese dumping, but operations have since stabilised.He also flagged Mahindra & Mahindra, which has seen stock price weakness despite strong earnings and wholesale numbers. Chadha said they are looking to increase exposure, adding that robust manufacturing PMI trends should eventually reflect in prices.

Vaishali Parekh, Vice President – Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, sees a minor retracement in IFCI, with ₹58 acting as strong support. She suggests adding at ₹58 if the stock dips, with technical targets of ₹70 initially. A breakout above ₹70 could open up ₹75–80 levels. Her advice: continue holding and accumulate on declines.

On State Bank of India, Parekh advises caution as ₹1,250 is a key resistance. Investors can either book partial profits or hold with a trailing stop loss. A corrective move could offer a better re-entry opportunity.

For BHEL, she recommends maintaining a stop loss at ₹240, warning that a breach could weaken the trend. The stock faces resistance near ₹285; a decisive move above that may trigger further upside.

Astha Jain, Research Analyst at Hem Securities, says Indian Overseas Bank has delivered a strong turnaround post the RBI’s prompt corrective action framework. She highlighted improvements in profitability and capital adequacy ratios, adding that the stock could move towards ₹40 initially and potentially ₹43. Her view: remain invested.

On Phoenix Mills, Jain pointed to strong sales growth and robust mall occupancy, backed by healthy retail consumption trends. She recommends a hold, calling it one of the better plays in the real estate space, with a target of ₹1,900.

ABB India said 1.7 percentage points of its Q4CY25 EBITDA margin expansion came from forex and commodity gains.

The company reported a forex gain of ₹62 crore in Q4, compared with a ₹40 crore loss a year ago. Adjusted for forex gains and the impact of new labour codes, the margin stands at 15.5%, not 17%.

Shares of ABB India were trading nearly 7% higher at 2:53 PM on the NSE.

Citi Research has initiated coverage on Aadhar Housing Finance with a Buy rating, implying an upside potential of 41%.

The brokerage prefers the stock within the housing finance space, citing strong medium-term growth visibility with AUM targeted to grow 20–22%, crossing the ₹500 billion mark over the next three years.

Citi estimates FY26 disbursement growth of 17–18%, with Q4 momentum seen exceeding 20%. It also highlighted a resilient spread profile, with a medium-term spread floor of 5.6%+, supported by a disciplined LAP mix and a largely floating-rate funding structure.

Market Watch: Jay Thakkar, ICICI Securities

Ashish Kyal, CMT, Author at Waves Strategy Advisors

On Pfizer

Based in Bengaluru, Biocon Biologics anticipates that the next 12 months will be much more interesting than the previous one, driven by the introduction of several new biosimilars, such as Aspart, Aflibercept, and Denosumab.

According to Biocon Biologics’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shreehas Tambe, the company’s fiscal year 2027 full-year financial results will start to show the full financial effect of these freshly introduced medicines.

Nikunj Doshi, Managing Partner & CIO-PMS, Bay Capital Investments Advisors

Sector preference

The shares of Siemens surged by over 3% this week and have added 6% gains in this session alone.

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, CEO Hemant Taneja revealed that General Catalyst would make one of the biggest venture capital commitments to India, investing $5 billion over five years.

In an effort to capitalise on the growing data center market in India, Gulf Oil Lubricants India is creating specific liquid cooling fluids for server thermal control.

According to Manish Gangwal, CFO and full-time director, the company has created two liquid cooling products and is now negotiating with data center operators and service providers to start proof of concept (POC) trials in the local market.

The shares of DEE Development surged by over 7% after bagging a new order.

In order to enable restricted, shared access to bank accounts, NPCI developed UPI Circle, which allows users to assign payment rights to trusted individuals on the BHIM Payments App, PhonePe, and Google Pay.

The shares of Newgen Software are trading under pressure, falling over 8%.

The shares of Novartis India have extended its gains to 19% after the parent company stake sale news.

According to persons familiar with the situation, Temasek Holdings Pte and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority intend to invest in Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Ltd.’s IPO, supporting a listing that will gauge Indian market sentiment.

DEE Development | Bags Order Worth $40 m For The Supply Of HRSG Piping For 16 Units

Piyush Goyal speaks about the India-US trade.

India’s negotiators to go to the US on February 23

As the Nifty index trades higher, these are the biggest volume buzzers among Nifty 500 stocks.

TCS | Partners With Cisco To Launch A Centre Of Excellence In Hyderabad For Autonomous Enterprise Operations

Nikunj Doshi, Managing Partner & CIO-PMS, Bay Capital Investments Advisors

Earnings and markets

Even as the Nifty and Sensex indices are surging, the Nifty Smallcap index is underperforming its peers.

In addition to the Nifty 50 and the banking index, the Nifty Midcap 100 index

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