GIFT Nifty:

GIFT Nifty February 2026 futures were down 133.50 points, suggesting a deep red start for the Nifty 50 today.

Institutional Flows:

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 934.61 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,637.15 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 February 2026, provisional data showed.

The FIIs have sold shares worth Rs 2,011.24 crore in the cash market so far in February (till 20 February 2026). This follows their cash sales of Rs 41,435.22 crore in January 2026 and Rs 34,349.62 crore in December.

Global Markets:

Asian stock markets traded mostly with gains on Monday as investors monitored developments related to the United States tariffs.

While the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration unlawfully imposed the measures last year, US President Donald Trump used different legal means to raise global levies to 15% from 10% over the weekend.

Markets in China and Japan were closed for a holiday.

On Friday, U.S. stocks rose after the Supreme Court ruling, potentially providing relief for companies burdened by higher costs from the duties and easing concern about sticky inflation still plaguing the U.S. economy.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.69% and closed at 6,909.51, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% and settled at 22,886.07. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 230.81 points, or 0.47%, and ended at 49,625.97. The 30-stock index recovered from a 200-point loss earlier in the session on disappointing economic data.

Data released on Friday showed that the US economy expanded an annualized 1.4% in Q4 2025, the least since Q1 2025, following a 4.4% growth in Q3 and well below widely reported forecasts of 3%, the advance estimate showed.

Domestic Market:

The Indian equity markets staged a resilient recovery on Friday, February 20, 2026, recouping a portion of the previous session's steep losses. The Sensex climbed 316.57 points while the Nifty 50 managed to close above the crucial 25,550 mark.

Despite a cautious start triggered by escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and high crude oil prices, broad-based buying in heavyweights like Hindalco, NTPC and L&T, supported by positive news from the India AI Impact Summit, offset continued weakness in the IT sector, allowing both benchmark indices to end the week with marginal gains.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.38% to settle at 82,814.71. The Nifty 50 index rose 116.90 points or 0.46% to close at 25,571.25.