Markets at close: Indian benchmark indices ended the session on a sharply negative note, dragged down by broad based selling across sectors. The Sensex closed over 1,200 points lower, down 1.4%, to settle below 82,500. Meanwhile, the Nifty declined 365 points, or nearly 1.4%, ending below 25,500.
The market witnessed heightened volatility during the day, with the index falling 1,500 points from the day’s high to the low.
On the sectoral front, weakness was widespread as all Nifty sectoral indices ended in the red. Heavy selling was seen across auto, financial services, FMCG, IT, media, metals, pharma, realty, and consumer durables stocks.
Markets at 3:15 PM: With just minutes left for the closing bell, the sell-off on D-Street shows no signs of easing. The Sensex is down 1,373.71 points, or 1.64%, at 82,360.54, while the Nifty has slipped 398.95 points, or 1.55%, to 25,420.40.
Markets at 2:50 PM: Markets are trading sharply lower in the current session, with the Sensex down 1,106.41 points, or 1.32%, at 82,627.84, while the Nifty has slipped 328.80 points, or 1.27%, to 25,490.55 amid broad-based selling pressure.
Markets at 12.50 PM: The domestic equity markets extend losses as the US is likely to take military actions against Tehran next weekend. The Nifty 50 dropped 208 points or 0.81% to trade at 25,601, while the BSE Sensex fell more than 700 points or 0.89% to trade at 82,977.88.
Markets at 11.30 AM: Indian equity indices fell in the afternoon trade after opening in the green. The Nifty 50 was down 144 points or 0.58% to trade at 25,668, while the BSE Sensex traded 501 points or 0.61% lower at 83,225.
Markets today at open: Indian equity indices opened Thursday’s trade on a higher note. The Nifty 50 opened 30 points or 0.12% higher at 25,850, while the BSE Sensex started the day 136 points or 0.16% higher at 83,871.
“An important takeaway from Q3 results is the comeback of the mid and smallcaps. Improvement in earnings recovery and indications of continuation of this uptrend have brought the mid and smallcaps back to the radar of investors. At the institutional level, there is a trend of selective accumulation of mid and smallcaps. Even mutual funds that had flagged the valuation concerns of the mid and smallcaps have started approaching the segment with optimism,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
However, even now, largecaps have valuation comfort while mid and smallcaps are trading at much higher valuations. Nifty is trading at around 20 times FY27 estimated earnings, while the NSE midcap and NSE smallcap indexes are trading at 28 and 24 times estimated FY27 earnings. This makes this market a stock picker’s market. Prospects for financials, autos, capital goods, pharmaceuticals and hotels look good, he added.
Markets ahead of opening: The global markets are trading on a higher note. The GIFT Nifty rose 35 points or 0.14% to trade at 25,841. Here are domestic as well as other key global cues to watch before the market opens that include Gold, Silver, crude oil prices, FII and DII data, business groups that most affect, sectoral performance, etc.
Earlier on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 closed the session 94 points or 0.37% higher at 25,819, while the BSE Sensex rose 283 points or 0.34% to close at 83,734.
Key global and domestic cues to know on February 19, 2025
Asian Markets
The Asian indices rose following overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.52%, while the Topix rose 0.39%. The Kospi index jumped 2.76% to a fresh record high, and the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.59%. Hong Kong and mainland China markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year break.
US markets
The US markets closed Wednesday’s trade on a higher note, led by tech stocks, and traders weighed the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.56% to end at 6,881.31, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.78% to close at 22,753.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 129.47 points, or 0.26%, and settled at 49,662.66.
US Fed Meeting Minutes
US Federal Reserve officials signalled that interest rates will remain steady at their meeting last month, with most indicating they wanted to see further progress on inflation before considering any more cuts—a process that could take months.
Moreover, even though two officials opposed the decision to hold rates steady at their January 27-28 meeting and favoured a cut, minutes of the meeting showed that other officials would have supported more neutral language characterising the prospect of a rate cut or a rate increase as evenly balanced.
Gold rate today
The rate for 24-carat gold today is Rs 1,55,760 per 10 grams. The price of gold has risen by 2.57% from yesterday. The 24 kt gold rate today in Delhi is Rs 1,55,490 per 10 grams. The 18-carat gold price today in India is Rs 1,16,820. The 24-carat gold rate in Dubai today is Rs 1,49,590. On the MCX, the precious metal for the April delivery was trading at a price of Rs 1.55 lakh per 10 grams, down 0.05%.
Silver rate today
In India, the silver rate rose 0.72% to Rs 2.42 lakh per kilogram. On COMEX, Silver prices fell almost 1.53% on Thursday to trade at $76.410. Silver had surged to record highs in January amid geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence, with heavy speculative buying—especially from China—pushing prices higher.
FII, DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) were the net buyers of shares worth Rs 1,154.34 crore. On the other hand, the Domestic institutional investors (DII) were the net buyers of shares worth Rs 440.34 crore on February 18, 2025, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
Crude oil
The crude oil prices traded on a lower note on Thursday morning. WTI crude prices were trading at $65.13, fell 0.09%, while Brent crude prices were trading at $70.26, a decline of 0.13%.
US dollar
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was flat at 97.70. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar in comparison to major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, etc. The rupee appreciated 0.02% to close at 90.67 to the dollar on February 18.
Top sectors in Wednesday’s trade
The Tobacco sector’s stocks rose the most in Wednesday’s trade, rising 3.5% in the market capitalisation. Further, Edible Fat stocks were followed by the Small Finance sector stocks, which were further followed by the Electronics stocks. However, the Aquaculture sector stocks fell the most, declining 2.14%.