Nifty below 25,850; oil & gas shares decline

The key equity benchmarks traded with substantial losses in the early afternoon trade, weighed down by profit booking. Sentiment remained cautious due to the expiry of BSE derivatives contracts and FII selling, prompting a shift toward a risk-off approach. The Nifty traded below the 25,850 mark. Oil & gas shares tumbled after rallying for four consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 437.21 points or 0.52% to 83,796.43. The Nifty 50 index fell 118.75 points or 0.46% to 25,834.85.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index dropped 0.56% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index slipped 0.76%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,570 shares rose and 2,404 shares fell. A total of 192 shares were unchanged.

Direct Tax Collection:

The central governments net direct tax collections, after accounting for refunds, stood at Rs 19.43 lakh crore so far this fiscal year, up 9.4% from a year earlier. Net corporate tax collection rose 14.51% to Rs 8.90 lakh crore, while taxes from non-corporates, including individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), rose 5.91% to about Rs 10.03 lakh crore.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.73% to 11.63. The Nifty 24 February 2026 futures were trading at 25,890, at a premium of 55.15 points as compared with the spot at 25,834.85.

The Nifty option chain for the 24 February 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 59 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 48.9 lakh contracts was seen at the 25,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 1.10% to 12,216.15. The index rose 0.58% in the four consecutive trading sessions.

Indian Oil Corporation (down 3.13%), Indraprastha Gas (down 3.13%), Mahanagar Gas (down 2.69%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 2.66%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 2.48%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 1.62%), Adani Total Gas (down 1.15%), Gujarat Gas (down 1.15%), Petronet LNG (down 0.94%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.8%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell 1.74%. The companys consolidated net profit zoomed 120.91% to Rs 6,603 crore on a 5.74% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 16,235 crore in Q3 FY26 over Q3 FY25.

Garuda Construction and Engineering rose 2.34% after the company reported a 156.02% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 32.95 crore on a 125.04% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 140.02 crore in Q3 FY26 compared with Q3 FY25.

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