Small-cap index outshines; 100 stocks rally up to 46%

Market This Week

• Broader indices mixed; outperform main indices
• FIIs turn net sellers during the week
• Sensex, Nifty down 1% each
• Mixed sectoral performance

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In a volatile trading week, the broader market indices delivered a mixed performance but managed to outperform the benchmark indices, which remained under pressure due to weakness in IT heavyweights amid concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence.

In this week, the BSE Sensex declined 953.64 points, or 1.14 percent, to close at 82,626.76, while the Nifty50 shed 222.6 points, or 0.86 percent, to end at 25,471.10.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers during the week after offloading equities in Friday’s session, reversing their buying trend seen in the first four trading sessions. Overall, FIIs sold equities worth Rs 4,019.09 crore during the week. In contrast, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) extended support to the market, with net purchases of Rs 6,883.81 crore.

Sectoral performance remained mixed during the week, with heavy selling seen in technology stocks. The Nifty IT index declined more than 8 percent, Nifty Energy and Oil & Gas indices fell around 2 percent each, while the Nifty FMCG index slipped nearly 2 percent. On the other side, the Nifty Media index surged 5 percent, Nifty PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, and Defence indices advanced roughly 3 percent each. Meanwhile, the Nifty Auto gained about 2 percent, and the Nifty Pharma index added around 1 percent for the week.

"Global equity markets were strong over the past week, while the Indian markets underperformed over this period. BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 indices ended the week in the negative territory. However, the midcap and the smallcap indices outperformed the larger peers. BSE 250 smallcap index saw gains of ~1%. Amongst sectors, the trend remained mixed with BSE Healthcare, BSE Auto and BSE Capital Goods indices posting gains. On the other hand, the BSE IT index underperformed with sharp weekly correction as increasing concerns from progress in AI weighed on IT services companies," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

"India witnessed a strong Q3FY26 earnings season, with aggregate earnings largely ahead of expectations. After a sharp sell-off in January 2026 and CY26, FPI flows has turned positive this month and for February 2026 (till date). With Q3FY26 results season coming towards the end, the market direction will be determined by global new flow and domestic macros,"

The BSE Smallcap index rose 0.8 percent during the week, with JITF Infralogistics, GE Power India, Lincoln Pharmaceuticals, Avanti Feeds, Blue Cloud Softech Solutions, TVS Supply Chain Solutions, Axiscades Technologies,Sika Interplant Systems, SML Mahindra, Lumax Industries adding between 25-46 percent, while SpiceJet, Ecos India Mobility & Hospitality, Safari Industries (India), Jyoti Resins and Adhesives, CarTrade Tech,Ceinsys Tech, Pearl Global Industries, HLE Glascoat, Foods and Inns, Reliance Infrastructure, Mastek losing between 13-23 percent.

Where is market headed?

Amol Athawale, VP Technical Research, Kotak Securities

We believe that the intraday market texture is still on the weak side, but a fresh selloff is possible only if the market dismisses the 20-day SMA (Simple Moving Average) or 25,400/82500. Below this level, the market could extend the correction to 25,300/82200. Further downside may continue, potentially dragging the index to 25150-25100/81700-81500. On the upside, 25,600/83100 would act as an immediate resistance for the bulls. Above this, a pullback could continue towards the 50-day SMA, around 25,800–25,900/83700-84000.

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

The emergence of selling pressure of Friday seems to have dampened the effort of bulls to make a comeback. The short-term negative chart pattern suggests more weaknesses in the coming sessions. A decisive slide below 25450 levels could pull Nifty down to 25200 levels (200day EMA) by next week. Immediate resistance is placed at 25600.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

From a technical standpoint, the setup has turned relatively cautious, with the index slipping below its 20DMA for the first time in the past few sessions. Additionally, it has breached the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the prior upmove from 24,571 to 26,341.

With the index closing below the key support level of 25,500, the near-term bias appears weak, and there is potential for a decline toward the 25,000 mark in the short term. On the upside, immediate resistance is seen around 25,800.

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