Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 12.22, down 3.55% from the last closing.
Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said the index gave a consolidation breakout on the 15-minute chart, leading to a rally towards the end of the session.
De said the sentiment has improved significantly over the last three sessions, as the index reclaimed the 25,500 support after a brief decline and then crossed the 25,800 resistance, providing double confirmation of strength. “In the short term, 25,500 is likely to act as a crucial support level. As long as it holds, buyers are likely to dominate. On the higher end, the index may extend gains towards 26,000 and above,” he added.
US markets
U.S. stocks are mixed on Wednesday, as investors try to balance both the upsides and potential downsides of the rush into artificial-intelligence technology.Nvidia climbed 1.7% after Meta Platforms announced a long-term partnership where it will build data centers using millions of chips and other equipment from Nvidia to help its artificial-intelligence ambitions.
“No one deploys AI at Meta’s scale,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said. Because his company is the most valuable on Wall Street, Nvidia’s stock was the single most powerful force pulling the S&P 500 higher.
That performance demonstrated the upside of AI development for the U.S. stock market. But investors have been much more focused on the downside recently, which has led to sharp swings for Wall Street. Worries are rising on one hand about how much companies like Meta are spending on AI investments and whether they can possibly make it all back through higher profits and productivity in the future.
Meta’s stock slipped 1.5% and was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
Another big worry is that if AI succeeds in creating tools to do complicated tasks more cheaply, companies in industries as far-flung as software and trucking may see their businesses get undercut. That has led investors to suddenly and aggressively punish stocks of companies seen as under threat, and analysts have likened it to a “shoot first-ask questions later” mentality.
European Markets
Major European indices traded with strong gains around 2:11 p.m. GMT (7:56 pm India time) with the UK’s FTSE 100, Spain’s IBEX and Stoxx 600 surging up to 1.3%.
Meanwhile, French CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were up 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, around this time.
Tech View
Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President – Research at Religare Broking said the sentiment remained measured due to weak global technology cues and broader risk-off behaviour in overseas markets, while expectations around macro data and corporate earnings continued to influence positioning. In the absence of fresh domestic triggers, trading activity stayed selective and stock-specific throughout the session, he opined.
“Market participants are attempting to regain control, but indications still favour an extended consolidation phase. The 26,000 level remains a key hurdle for the Nifty, while the 25,400–25,600 zone is likely to offer support on any dip. In this environment, a stock-specific approach is advisable, with focus on sectors and themes showing consistent trends, along with disciplined position sizing given the possibility of renewed volatility,” Mishra added.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
Netweb Technologies (Rs 253 crore), Godfrey Phillips (Rs 212 crore), Hindustan Copper (Rs 176 crore), Newgen Software Technologies ( Rs 174 crore), Infosys (Rs 149 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 107 crore) and ITC (Rs 100 crore), were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 2.74 crore), EaseMyTrip Bank (Traded shares: 3.13 crore), SpiceJet (Traded shares: 1.44 crore), Ola Electric (Traded shares: 1.19 crore), Cube Highways Trust (Traded shares: 1.05 crore), GMR Airports (Traded shares: 70.83 lakh) and YES Bank (Traded shares: 57.62 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
E2E Networks, Netweb Technologies, Godfrey Phillips India, EaseMyTrip, Universus Photo Imagings, Gokul Refoils and Solvent and Akash Infra Projects were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52 Week high
Today, 112 stocks hit their 52 week highs while 100 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, Acutaas Chemicals, Aeroflex Industries, Bajaj Auto, Force Motors, Hitachi Energy India and Union Bank.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the large cap names were Eternal, Tech Mahindra and Infosys. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were GE Power India, Bharat Seats, Shiv Aum Steels, VL E-Governance & IT Solutions, RACL Geartech, Brainbees Solutions and Hybrid Financial Services.
Sentiment meter favours bulls
The action in heavyweights like RIL, ITC and Axis Bank aided the markets the most as the breadth stayed positive in broader markets. Out of the 4,383 stocks that traded on the BSE on February 18, Wednesday, 2,187 stocks witnessed advances, 2,018 saw declines while 178 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)