Indian stocks opened marginally lower Thursday, pressured by declines in realty, media and consumer durables sectors. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 16.15 points, or 0.02%, to 83,718.10 by 09:30 IST. The Nifty 50 index slipped 4.20 points, or 0.02%, to trade below 25,850 at 25,815.35.

Midcap and smallcap gauges bucked the trend. The BSE 150 MidCap Index climbed 0.09%. The BSE 250 SmallCap Index edged up 0.07%. Market breadth stayed positive on the BSE, where 1,699 shares advanced against 1,255 decliners. Another 173 issues ended unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 1,154.34 crore on February 18, 2026, provisional figures show. Domestic institutional investors purchased Rs 440.34 crore that day.

B. L. Kashyap and Sons shares surged 8.17% after the company secured a Rs 300 crore order from CRC Greens for civil construction works. Pace Digitek rose 2.36% on news its subsidiary Lineage Power won a $1.35 million order from Yaqin Chem for mobile battery systems. DCX Systems edged up 0.14% after it and subsidiary Raneal Advanced Systems bagged combined orders worth Rs 45.4 crore for cable and printed circuit assemblies.

The rupee strengthened slightly against the dollar, trading at 90.6850 versus the previous close of 90.7200. MCX gold futures for April 2, 2026 delivery gained 0.06% to Rs 155,776. Brent crude for April 2026 settlement rose 26 cents, or 0.37%, to $70.61 per barrel. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield increased 0.34% to 4.094%.

Asian markets advanced Thursday, lifted by Wall Street tech gains, though U.S.-Iran tensions supported oil prices. Hong Kong and mainland China exchanges remained shut for Lunar New Year. Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran ignored U.S. red lines in recent nuclear talks, leaving military options on the table.

U.S. indexes closed higher overnight. The S&P 500 rose 0.56% to 6,881.31. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.78% to 22,753.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.26% to 49,662.66. Traders parsed Federal Reserve minutes from the January meeting, which showed broad support for holding the key rate at 3.5%-3.75%. Officials split on future policy direction.