Indian Stock Market Bounces Back: Sensex and Nifty Erase Early Losses Led by Infosys, ITC

February 17, 2026 – The Indian equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50, demonstrated significant resilience on Tuesday, staging a sharp recovery to trade in the green after a shaky start. The turnaround was primarily fueled by robust buying in heavyweights like Infosys and ITC, alongside a broader rebound in the information technology sector.

Market Performance at a Glance

After opening with a downward bias due to weak global cues and thin trading volumes in Asia, the domestic indices quickly found their footing.

• BSE Sensex: After dropping nearly 290 points in early trade to hit a low of 82,987.43, the 30-share index surged back to gain over 116 points, trading near the 83,393 level.
• NSE Nifty 50: The 50-share index recovered from an early low of 25,570.30, erasing a 112-point deficit to trade comfortably above the 25,690 mark.

Key Market Drivers: The “Big Two”

The recovery was anchored by two of the market’s most influential stocks, each benefiting from specific fundamental and technical triggers.

1. Infosys Leads IT Rebound

Infosys emerged as the top gainer, surging over 3%. This rally comes as a major relief for the IT sector, which had faced a brutal sell-off over the past two weeks.

• The Catalyst: Investor sentiment was bolstered by Infosys’s strategic collaboration with Anthropic, a leading AI safety and research company.
• Sectoral Impact: This partnership helped soothe fears that generative AI would disrupt the traditional IT services model. Peer stocks like TCS, HCL Tech, and Tech Mahindra also saw gains, lifting the Nifty IT index by nearly 2%.

2. ITC Shows Defensive Strength

FMCG giant ITC provided the necessary cushion to the indices, rising over 2.5%.

• Trading Activity: ITC was among the most active stocks by value, with massive delivery volumes indicating strong institutional interest.
• Technical Reversal: Despite a cautious outlook on the broader FMCG sector, ITC’s ability to hold key support levels triggered short-covering, helping the stock trade near its intraday high of ₹328.

Winners and Laggards

While the tech and FMCG sectors led the charge, the market breadth remained a tug-of-war between various sectors.

Top Gainers	Top Laggards
Infosys (+3.5%)	Eternal (Zomato) (-2.9%)
ITC (+2.6%)	Hindalco (-2.4%)
HCL Tech (+1.8%)	Shriram Finance (-2.1%)
Asian Paints (+1.7%)	Tata Steel (-1.6%)
State Bank of India (+1.1%)	Reliance Industries (-1.1%)

Global and Domestic Context

The recovery is particularly notable given the lack of support from international markets.

• Global Cues: US markets were closed on Monday for Presidents’ Day, leaving a vacuum in global leadership. Several Asian markets, including China and South Korea, remained shut for the Lunar New Year holidays.
• Institutional Activity: Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) continued to be the “white knights” of the Indian market, purchasing equities worth ₹1,666.98 crore on Monday, which effectively countered the ₹972.13 crore sold by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

Expert Outlook

Market analysts suggest that the recovery indicates a “buy-on-dips” mentality among domestic investors.

“The rebound in IT stocks, specifically Infosys, is a crucial signal. It suggests that the market is beginning to differentiate between AI disruption and AI adoption,” said a senior equity strategist. “While the trend remains cautious due to technical resistance, the recovery from early lows shows that the underlying liquidity remains strong.”

Investors are now keeping a close eye on the US-Iran nuclear negotiations in Geneva and upcoming domestic economic data, which are expected to dictate the market’s trajectory for the remainder of the week.