NIFTY50 above 25,500, SENSEX jumps 230 pts in noon deals; L&T, Natco Pharma, IRFC among buzzing stocks

The Indian benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, continued trading in the positive territory during the afternoon session on Wednesday, February 25, on the back of strong global cues amid a rally in metal and IT stocks.

The SENSEX advanced as much as 731.91 points to an intraday high of 82,957.91. Meanwhile, the NIFTY50 touched the session’s high of 25,652.60.

At 12:36 PM, the S&P BSE SENSEX rose by 229.57 points, or 0.25%, to 82,455.49. NSE’s NIFTY50 stood at 25,550.45, marking a 125.80 points, or 0.49% jump.

On Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹102.53 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth ₹3,161.22 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.

The NIFTY50 index was supported by gains in Tata Steel (3.37%), HCL Technologies (3.18%), Bajaj Auto (3.03%), Tata Consultancy Services (2.67%) and Shriram Finance (2.67%), which were among the top winners.

On the other hand, the top losers included ITC (-1%), State Bank of India (-0.96%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-0.95%), Tata Consumer Products (-0.92%) and Eternal (-0.91%).

Buzzing stocks on February 25: Check list

Indian IT stocks sharply rebounded on Wednesday, February 25, with the NIFTY IT index rallying as much as 3.14% to hit a high of 30,999.75.

The rally could be attributed to factors such as a rise in global software stocks in the US market and industry leaders' statements on the recent brutal sell-off in the Indian IT stocks.

The street's reaction to the Indian IT sector stocks is "overblown", HCLTech CEO and MD C. Vijayakumar said at the Nasscom Technology & Leadership Forum (NTLF) on February 24 in Mumbai.

The information technology (IT) industry is undergoing a “painful” AI transition, but it will emerge more relevant as the current inflection will make the sector significantly “reinvent” itself, the CEO added, according to a report by Moneycontrol.

Vijayakumar’s comments come at a time when the stock rout is driven by fresh fears of AI-led disruption following claims of Anthropic that its Claude Code tools would sharply reduce the cost and complexity of modernising legacy software systems

Shares of solar energy companies, including Waaree Energies (-14.2%), Premier Energies (-10%), and Vikram Solar, were trading in the negative territory.

This comes as the Trump administration set preliminary duties of 126% on solar imports from India after determining the country "unfairly subsidised manufacturing."

According to news reports, while Waaree Energies and Vikram Solar have meaningful export exposure to the US market, Premier Energies’ share is negligible. As a result, the decline in Premier Energies’ stock appears to be largely driven by spillover sentiment rather than direct business impact.

A CNBC-TV18 report noted that Waaree Energies has nearly 29% export exposure, while Vikram Solar derives around 16% of its revenue from exports. In contrast, Premier Energies has no export exposure.

According to L&T’s classification, major orders translate to projects ranging between ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 crore.

In a regulatory filing, the construction major said that, in India, PT&D has received an order for the design, supply, and construction of two 220 kV gas-insulated substations in the Durgapur–Raniganj–Asansol industrial belt of West Bengal.

The scope also includes associated transmission line segments with advanced conductors and multi-circuit towers, it stated, adding that, “These grid modernisation jobs will provide a stable voltage profile and enhance reliability of power networks for infrastructure and industrial projects in the region.”

In the Middle East, PT&D has won orders up to 500 kV level in three different countries in the region. The projects, from key utilities for the turnkey construction of five substations and over 250 km transmission lines, also involve supplying and installing a 400 kV underground cable system.

The government has fixed the floor price of ₹104.00 per equity share for the OFS, IRFC said in a regulatory filing.

At ₹104 per unit, the government would be able to garner about ₹5,430 crore by offloading up to a 4% stake in the company under the Ministry of Railways.

In a regulatory filing dated Tuesday, Afcons said that Société Autoroutière du Gabon (SAG) has issued a notice of termination for an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the design, construction, rehabilitation, and upgradation of National Road NR1 from PK 24+000 to PK 105+000 (approximately 117 km) of contract value of approximately 113.03 million euros.

Meanwhile, Eris Lifesciences announced a strategic partnership with Natco Pharma for the launch of Semaglutide in India.

In a regulatory filing, the drug maker said that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Natco Pharma for the commercialisation of Semaglutide.

Ozempic and Wegovy are popular Semaglutide brands in the world.

The stock of Schaeffler India rallied as much as 6.12% to an intraday high of ₹4,334.70 per equity share, as it reported a 32% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its standalone net profit to ₹327.96 crore in the three months ending December.

It had delivered a standalone net profit of ₹249.33 crore in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations in the quarter under review stood at ₹2,643 crore, up 27% from ₹2,082.31 crore registered in Q4 CY24, the company said in the filing on Tuesday. Schaeffler India follows the calendar year (January-December) for financial reporting.