The Indian stock market remained higher in Wednesday’s session on February 18, as late-hour buying helped the key indices extend gains for the third straight session. The rally was largely led by metals, PSU, and FMCG stocks.
Consequently, the Nifty 50 finished the session 0.35% higher at the 25,819 level, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.34% to settle at 83,734. The broader markets also displayed strong momentum, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 each rising over 0.40%.
Metal stocks saw a strong surge in demand during the session after US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signalled that the Donald Trump administration is open to revising its broad tariffs on steel and aluminium amid pressure from business groups and trading partners, Bloomberg reported.
In addition, PSU banking stocks continued to build strength, with the Nifty PSU Bank gaining 1.31%, extending its winning run to the third straight session. During the intraday trade, the index touched a fresh record high of 9,647.
Other sectoral indices, including Nifty FMCG, Nifty Oil & Gas, and Nifty Auto, also closed with gains of over 0.50%.
Meanwhile, the rally in tech stocks appeared to be short-lived as renewed selling pressure dragged the Nifty IT index down 1.37%, erasing most of its recent gains. The index is down 14% so far this month amid mounting fears that advanced AI tools could replace industry-specific software providers.
Godfrey Phillips surges 20%, Netweb Tech jumps 9%
Godfrey Phillips was the standout performer, with the stock closing 20% higher at ₹2,478 apiece after reports emerged that tobacco companies have raised cigarette prices to offset the impact of the excise duty hike.
The price hikes are reportedly expected to limit the EBIT decline to 2%, compared with earlier expectations of an 8–15% drop.
Transformers & Rectifiers was another top performer among Nifty 500 stocks, rallying 9.2% to ₹299.2 apiece.
Netweb Technologies also gained momentum, surging 9% to ₹3,374 apiece after the Indian original equipment manufacturer (OEM) announced plans to launch a ‘Make in India’ AI supercomputer powered by Nvidia.
Other top performers included Schneider Electric, Techno Electric & Engineering, Apar Industries, GMDC, HEG, Cohance Lifesciences, Choice International, and Reliance Infrastructure, all of which closed with gains of over 5%.
Among banking stocks, City Union Bank rose 4%, while Punjab National Bank and Bank of Maharashtra gained 2.7% and 2.2%, respectively.
In the metal pack, Hindustan Copper emerged as the top performer, jumping 3.6% to ₹569.4 apiece. Lloyds Metals & Energy and Tata Steel each rallied 3%.
Other key stocks such as BSE, Bharat Dynamics, Paytm, and Marico ended the session with gains of over 3%.
Brainbees, Hexaware lead declines
Selling pressure intensified in Brainbees Solutions, with the stock slumping another 6% to ₹216.2 apiece, while Hexaware Technologies declined 3.8% to ₹571.8 apiece.
Other top laggards among Nifty 500 stocks, including Waaree Energies, Ramkrishna Forgings, TBO Tek, Affle 3i, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Triveni Engineering, and Birlasoft, fell between 2.5% and 3%.
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