Nifty ends higher on Friday

20 Feb 2026 Evaluate

After witnessing huge losses in the previous session, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- garnered notable gains on Friday, as India has joined Pax Silica, a US-led strategic alliance, specifically designed to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence (AI). Index started the day in negative zone but soon staged recovery, as India’s private sector activity accelerated in the month of February, with quicker increases in total new orders and international sales. According to the data report, the HSBC Flash India PMI Composite Output Index - a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors - rose from 58.4 in January to 59.3 in February, indicating the strongest rate of expansion for three months.

Index maintained its gains till the end of the session, as India has joined Pax Silica, a US-led strategic alliance, specifically designed to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence (AI). Besides, with an aim to further strengthen economic ties, India called for increased collaboration in research and development (R&D), biotechnology, specialty pharmaceuticals, and advanced therapeutics with Switzerland. Adding some support, the government stated that it has disbursed Rs 28,748 crore under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes across 14 sectors, including electronics and pharmaceuticals, since the launch of the initiative to boost domestic manufacturing.

Most sectoral indices ended in the green, except IT and media stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were ABB India, KEI Industries and Hitachi Energy India. On the other hand, the top losers were Persistent Systems, SBI Cards and Payment Services and Dixon Technologies (India). In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 26900 - 27100 calls and 24900 - 25100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

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