The domestic equity benchmarks traded sideways in the early afternoon trade. Nifty traded above the 25,900 level. Pharma stocks advanced after declining in the past trading session.
At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 52.79 points or 0.06% to 84,221.13. The Nifty 50 index rose 6.50 points or 0.03% to 25,941.65.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.20% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.14%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,716 shares rose and 2,220 shares fell. A total of 206 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.46% to 11.38. The Nifty 24 February 2026 futures were trading at 25,996.90, at a premium of 55.25 points as compared with the spot at 25,941.65.
The Nifty option chain for the 24 February 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 52.5 lakh contracts at the 26,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 48.7 lakh contracts was seen at 25,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.74% to 22,373.75. The index rose 0.36% in the past trading session.
Laurus Labs (up 3.92%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.27%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 2.24%), Divis Laboratories (up 1.8%), Ipca Laboratories (up 1.79%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.44%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 1.19%), Lupin (up 1%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 0.94%) and Ajanta Pharma (up 0.64%) jumped.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HLE Glascoat tumbled 8.63% after the company reported 55.3% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 4.60 crore despite a 41.4% increase in revenue to Rs 326.57 crore in Q3 FY26 as compared with Q3 FY25.
ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India added 4.49% after its consolidated net profit jumped 11.72% to Rs 140.17 crore in Q3 FY26, from Rs 125.46 crore in Q3 FY25. The company’s revenue from operations jumped 11.68% YoY to Rs 1,074.91 crore in Q3 FY26.