Final Trade: Sensex up 10 pts, Nifty closes at 22,550; midcap down 1%, smallcap falls 2%

Indian equity benchmarks closed largely unchanged on February 27, with the Sensex slipping 10 points to 74,612 and the Nifty 50 declining 31 points to 22,545. Auto stocks were the biggest laggards, while financials gained after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) partially eased lending norms for small borrowers and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Broader markets underperform, smallcaps hit hard

The broader market continued to struggle, with the BSE Midcap index falling 1 per cent and the BSE Smallcap index losing over 2 per cent. On the NSE, only 477 shares advanced, while 2,146 declined, reflecting weak sentiment.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Media lost between 1-4 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors were the biggest drags on the auto index, falling 2 per cent each. In contrast, Nifty Bank gained 0.3 per cent as investors cheered RBI’s move, which could improve credit availability and lower borrowing costs.

FIIs continue selling spree, DIIs step in

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading Indian equities worth Rs 46,792 crore in February so far. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) countered this with net purchases of Rs 50,817 crore, providing some stability to the market.

Top gainers and losers

Among Nifty 50 stocks, Sun Pharma, Hindalco Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and Shriram Finance led the gainers, rising 2-5 per cent. Bajaj Finance hit a record high intraday on optimism around the RBI’s lending rule changes.

On the flip side, UltraTech Cement tumbled nearly 5 per cent after announcing a $206 million investment in the wires and cables business, raising concerns over capital allocation. Other major losers included M&M, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Trent, and Hero MotoCorp.

Market outlook

Technical analysts see strong support for the Nifty between 22,200 and 21,800, while 23,000 remains a key resistance level. A positive trigger, either domestic or global, could fuel a rebound, but further FII selling may keep the market under pressure.