Indices edge lower in early trade; breadth strong

The key equity benchmarks traded with minor cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,750 mark. IT and private bank shares declined, while metal, PSU bank and FMCG stocks advanced.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 22.83 points or 0.03% to 83,428.13. The Nifty 50 index fell 3 points or 0.01% to 25,722.40.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.26% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.45%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,131 shares rose and 939 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 995.21 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 187.04 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 February 2026, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dilip Buildcon jumped 3.39% after the company announced that it has been declared the L-1 bidder for a Gujarat government tender valued at Rs 702 crore.

Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 0.65%. The company announced that it has secured a Letter of Award worth between Rs 1,2001,500 crore from SAIL for a Captive Power Plant (CPP) package.

Bosch rose 0.62%. The company announced that Karin Gilges resigns as CFO effective May 31, and Tillmann Olsen is appointed as her successor effective June 1.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.17% to 6.670 compared with previous session close of 6.659.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.6775 compared with its close of 90.7200 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement rose 1.01% to Rs 152,951.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.13% to 97.25.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.47% to 4.071.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement rose 21 cents or 0.31% to $67.63 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks pushed higher on Wednesday despite the renewed artificial intelligence worries gripping international markets.

Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korean were among the markets closed for Lunar New Year holidays.

The positive start in Asia followed a lackluster session on Tuesday on Wall Street as investors grappled with the outlook for the AI boom.

Concerns that companies are over-investing, along with angst about the extent to which the nascent technology could disrupt labor markets, have fuelled investor jitters in recent weeks.

Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07% to 49,533.19, the S&P 500 was up 0.10% at 6,843.22, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.14% to 22,578.38. The S&P 500 fell 0.88% initially before making up ground to close in positive territory.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were little changed on Wednesday after both slid to close at more than two-week lows in the previous session.

Following talks in Geneva on Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister reportedly said Tehran and Washington reached an understanding on main "guiding principles" towards resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute, easing worries about a military conflict near the Strait of Hormuz that could disrupt global oil supply.

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