Top gainers and losers today: Stocks that moved the most on February 24

The Indian stock market witnessed a significant sell-off on February 24, with the Sensex plunging by 860 points, while the Nifty dropped to 22,550.

The day ended with Sensex 856.66 points lower (1.14%) while Nifty 50 stood 243.40 points lower (1.07%). The broader market turned negative, weighed by a downturn in IT, metal and telecom.

TOP GAINERS

Mahindra & Mahindra (CMP: Rs 2,710.50 ; up 1.50%)

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra rebounded by nearly 2%, recovering from a sharp 6% drop in the previous session. The surge followed Jefferies’ reaffirmation of ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 4,075, signaling an upside potential of 52.6% from the last closing price of Rs 2,669. The stock had experienced its biggest single-day fall in nearly 7 months in the previous session

Federal Bank (CMP: Rs 181.05 ; up 0.67%)

Federal Bank shares gained 1.6% after the private lender presented 12 key themes aimed at increasing its Return on Assets (RoA), targetting to be among the top six banks by FY28. Brokerages have maintained bullish ratings with up to 35% upside potential for the stock.

Glenmark Pharma (CMP: Rs 1,324 ; up 1.78)

Glenmark Pharma shares surged by over 3.5% after the company reached a settlement in multiple anti-trust and consumer protection lawsuits against its US subsidiary, Glenmark Pharma Inc. The company settled for $7 million with plaintiffs, including Humana, Centene, and Kaiser, but emphasized that the settlement was not an admission of guilt.

Pfizer (CMP: Rs 4,191 ; up 1.54%)

Shares of Pfizer saw a surge of 7% after the company entered into a marketing and sales agreement with Mylan Pharma for two of its brands, Ativan and Pacitane. The five-year pact for the Indian market aims to enhance distribution and clinic presence, with drug sourcing details still unspecified.

InterGlobe Aviation (CMP: Rs 4,528.80 ; up 0.40%)

InterGlobe Aviation shares continued their upward trend, marking a 7% gain over the past six sessions. Citi analysts raised their target price for the stock to Rs 5,200 from Rs 5,100, placing it on a 90-day positive catalyst watch while maintaining a ‘buy’ rating.

TOP LOSERS

Nifty IT

(L&T Technology Services: CMP Rs 3,251 ; down 1.93%), (Mphasis: CMP Rs 2,485 ; down 3.22%), (LTIMindtree: CMP Rs 5,045 ; down 4.78%), (HCLTech: CMP Rs 1,642.75 ; down 3.41%)

The Nifty IT index emerged as the biggest laggard among the sectoral indices on the NSE on Monday, suffering a sharp decline of over 2% during the early hours of trading. The selloff in IT stocks was triggered by drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index on Friday's trading session on Wall Street amid growing concerns about a potential slowdown in the US economy. The broad-based selloff in the Indian IT sector saw all ten constituent stocks in the red, with L&T Technology Services leading the fall, plunging by 5.55%.

NTPC Green Energy (CMP: Rs 99 ; down 6.11%)

Shares of NTPC Green Energy dropped over 6% after the company’s three-month shareholder lock-in period ended on February 24. This triggered a wave of sell-offs, with 18.33 crore shares (2% of the outstanding equity) now eligible for trading. While this doesn’t necessarily mean all these shares will flood the market, it has raised concerns about potential increased supply.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) (CMP: Rs 363.60 ; down 2.18%)

Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam fell by more than 2% after the company announced being the lowest bidder (L1) for South Western Railway project. Valued at Rs 156.35 crore, the project involves EPC work for an electrical system, with the market reacted negatively to the new contract.

Nifty Metal Index

(NALCO: CMP Rs 189.53 ; down 5.71%) ; (SAIL: CMP Rs 108.21 ; down 4.04%) ; (Ratnani Metal: CMP Rs 2404 ; down 3.83%)

The Nifty Metal Index slipped by 1.6% after five days of consecutive gains. This decline was driven by National Aluminium, SAIL, and Vedanta, as global market sentiment weakened. Concerns about the US imposing 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports further weighed on the sentiment despite India’s limited exports to the US.

Nifty Bank Index

(IndusInd Bank: CMP Rs 1,029.50 ; Down 1.37%); (HDFC Bank: CMP Rs 1,677 ; Down 0.92%); (ICICI Bank: CMP Rs 1,219.70 ; Down 1.07%)

The Nifty Bank Index dropped over 1%, with a loss of around 530 points on February 24. Bank stocks such as IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank tumbled as much as 2%. This decline follows a third consecutive session of losses, driven by a sell-off from foreign portfolio investors with significant exposure to the banking sector.