Market opens higher in early trade; breadth strong

The headline equity benchmarks traded with substantial gains in the early trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,550 mark. Barring the Nifty Chemical index, all other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the green, with the IT, metal and oil & gas indices gaining the most.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 515.93 points or 0.62% to 82,741.85. The Nifty 50 index gained 146.40 points or 0.58% to 25,571.05.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.44% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.43%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,050 shares rose and 872 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 102.53 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,161.22 crore in the Indian equity market on 24 February 2026, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HG Infra Engineering rallied 3.38% after the company was declared the lowest bidder (L1) by NHAI for a project worth Rs 1,582 crore. The project involves the construction of a six-lane, access-controlled Capital Region Ring Road (Package-III) from Gobindpur (NH-55) to Tangi near Bandola Toll Plaza (NH-16) in Odisha under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM).

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) slipped 3.70%. The company said that the Government of India will sell up to 26.13 crore equity shares (2% stake) on 2526 February, with an option to additionally sell up to 26.13 crore shares (2% stake) through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route on BSE and NSE. The floor price has been fixed at Rs 104 per share.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) shed 0.25%. The company has received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) worth Rs 270.22 crore from Central Railway. The order pertains to the design, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of a 220/132/55 kV traction substation and associated works for the DaundSolapur section.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined 0.12% to 6.677 compared with previous session close of 6.699.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.9275 compared with its close of 90.9500 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement gained 0.35% to Rs 160,534.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.07% to 97.70.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.25% to 4.043.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2026 settlement gained 55 cents or 0.78% to $71.32 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian markets edged higher with South Korea and Japan stocks hitting record highs Wednesday, after a tech-driven rally on Wall Street that was fueled by easing concerns around artificial intelligence-led disruption to select industries.

U.S. equities rose on Tuesday, led by gains in Advanced Micro Devices and software stocks, as investors fears around artificial intelligence disruption to certain industries eased.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.77% to close at 6,890.07, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.04% and settled at 22,863.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 370.44 points, or 0.76%, and ended at 49,174.50.

Shares of AMD jumped 8.8% after Meta Platforms announced a multiyear deal with the semiconductor company. The new partnership entails deploying up to 6 gigawatts of AMDs graphics processing units for AI data centers. Meta will also invest in AMD through a performance-based warrant for up to 160 million shares of the chipmaker.

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