Market Wrap, February 19: SENSEX, NIFTY50 close flat after a volatile trade; broader market outshines as smallcap index soars 2.5%

The equity benchmark indices on Wednesday, February 19, closed flat after a volatile trade as investors remained jittery amid US President Donald Trump's plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Investors are also awaiting the release of the US FOMC meeting minutes due on Wednesday.

During the intraday trade, though the indices traded in positive, however, by closing gave up the gains. NIFTY50 crossed the 23,000-level during the intraday trade but closed below that level.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 75,939.18, falling 28.21 points, or 0.04%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at 22,932.90, down 12.40 points, or 0.05%.

Market breadth was largely in favour of advances, as 2,810 stocks traded in the green on the BSE out of 4,074.

Meanwhile, the broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices by a wider margin.

Globally, the US markets closed at higher levels on Tuesday as market participants digested hawkish comments by the Fed officials and focused on the robust economic situation. The S&P 500 closed at record high levels, and the Dow Jones and NASDAQ closed 0.2% higher.

Asian markets were trading mixed after Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 2.758 trillion yen in January. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 2.104 trillion yen following the 132.5 billion yen surplus in December. Exports gained 7.2% year over year to 7.863 trillion yen, shy of expectations for an increase of 7.9% following the 2.8% gain in the previous month.

The foreign investors turned net buyers on Tuesday in the equities segment worth ₹4,700 crore after considering a block deal from Bharti Airtel. The DIIs continued their buying streak by buying equities worth $3,082 crore. In the derivatives segment, the FIIs hold short positions of 1.87 lakh contracts, a little higher than the previous day.

The forex market will remain closed on Wednesday on account of 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.'

As many as 4,074 stocks traded on the BSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 2,810 advanced and only 1,147 stocks declined while 117 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 55 stocks hit their 52-week highs while 387 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 12 stocks hit their upper circuit limits and only 4 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

The broader market outshined the equity benchmark indices on Wednesday with smallcap soaring almost 2.5%. BSE MidCap index ended at 39,692.23, surging 518.22 points, or 1.30%, while the BSE SmallCap index settled at 44,224.70 levels, soaring 1,071.11 points, or 2.41%.

Among sectors, except for BSE Focused IT (-1.33%), Teck (-1.31%), Information Technology (-1.21%) and Healthcare (-0.31%), all the other sectors settled positive. BSE Capital Goods (2.19%), Realty (1.62%), Power (1.26%), Consumer Discretionary (1.05%) and Bankex (0.99%) were the top contributors.

As many as 25 stocks on the NIFTY50 index traded positive, while the remaining 25 closed in red. The top five gainers on the index were Bharat Electronics, Hindalco, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank and Larsen and Toubro (L&T), rising as much as 3.54%.

On the flip side, the top five losers were Dr. Reddy’s, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and Adani Enterprises, declining as much as 2.48% on the 50-share index.