The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,650 mark. Auto shares advanced after declining for previous trading session.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 292.53 points or 0.35% to 83,115.64. The Nifty 50 index surged 81.30 points or 0.32% to 25,652.55.
In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index slipped 0.43% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.32%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,904 shares rose and 2,168 shares fell. A total of 228 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.24% to 13.49. The Nifty 24 February 2026 futures were trading at 25,670.70, at a premium of 18.15 points as compared with the spot at 25,652.55.
The Nifty option chain for the 24 February 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 229.1 lakh contracts at the 25,700 strike price. Maximum put OI of 134.8 lakh contracts was seen at 25,700 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index auto 0.62% to 28,018.20. The index tanked 2.10% in the past trading session.
Bharat Forge (up 2.08%), Eicher Motors (up 1.19%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.99%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.96%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.74%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.67%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.62%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 0.59%), Exide Industries (up 0.22%) and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (up 0.03%) added.
On the other hand, Tube Investments of India (down 1.87%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 0.51%) and Uno Minda (down 0.31%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
IDFC First Bank slumped 16.20% after the bank said that it has uncovered fraudulent transactions worth around Rs 590 crore at one of its branches in Chandigarh, allegedly involving a few employees.
R&B Denims advanced 1.93% after the company secured sales orders aggregating to around Rs 215.88 crore for the supply of around 12,000,000 meters of denim fabric products from established merchant exporters.
Morepen Laboratories zoomed 14.48% after the company announced that it has secured a multi-year contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) mandate valued at approximately Rs 825 crore from a leading global pharma major.