Indian equities staged a strong recovery on February 16, 2026, driven by broad-based buying in banking, energy, and power sectors, supported by sustained domestic institutional flows. The rebound overcame early IT sector weakness and regulatory tightening, while tech infrastructure announcements and AI-focused initiatives added long-term optimism.

Indian markets opened the week on a cautious note, tracking mixed global cues and lingering IT sector pressures from AI disruption fears. While the India-US trade deal offered support, a subdued GIFTNifty and selective sectoral resilience in realty, defense, and banking set the tone for a range-bound session.

Indian markets are poised for a gap-down opening on February 13, 2026, tracking global weakness triggered by a sharp selloff in US tech stocks amid renewed AI disruption fears. Despite resilient domestic themes in defense, metals, and finance, global risk-off sentiment is likely to dominate early trade, with selective buying opportunities emerging in fundamentally strong pockets.