Reliance Drag Pulls Nifty Below 25,500 as Rebound Fades

What changed today

Indian equities opened with positive risk sentiment on 25 February 2026. In early trade, the Sensex rose by more than 700 points and the Nifty moved above 25,600. By around 13:30 IST, Sensex gains had narrowed to about 100 points, and the Nifty slipped below 25,500.

Reliance was the main drag and was down 1.15% in the same intraday update. Tata Steel rose 2.56%, Bajaj Auto gained 2.26%, and Sun Pharma was up 1.74%.

Benchmark momentum weakened through the afternoon, but the decline was not uniform across large stocks.

Why this matters now

Benchmark indices are heavily influenced by a few large companies. A sharp move in one heavyweight can pull the index lower even when several sectors remain in the green. This can make headline index action look weaker than the broader stock-level picture.

In this session, metals, autos, and pharma names stayed positive while the index cooled. That is different from a broad risk-off phase, where strength usually fades across sectors at the same time.

The morning rebound came with supportive external cues, including a softer dollar and modest inflow support, before index gains compressed in the afternoon.

What The Market Is Missing

• Insight claim: The break below 25,500 appeared to be mainly Reliance-led drag within a rotating market, not a full market-wide risk-off reversal.
• Counter-view: The morning rise may have been largely short covering, and the afternoon decline could be the first leg of a broader unwind that spreads to current gainers.
• Invalidation condition: This view is invalid if Nifty sustains above 25,600 for one full session while Reliance stays below its 50-day average, showing broad participation can offset heavyweight drag.

Price and technical snapshot

The intraday move discussed above was on 25 February 2026, while the technical readings below are based on the close of 24 February 2026.

• Reliance closed at 1432.00, up 0.28% for the day. Volume was 12248373 versus an average of 9108136. RSI (14) was 48.38. The MACD line was -7.9422 and the MACD signal was -9.9818. The stock was above its 20-day moving average (1427.79) and below its 50-day moving average (1471.24).
• Tata Steel closed at 209.19, up 0.52%. RSI (14) was 63.36. The MACD line was 5.7311 and the MACD signal was 5.7441. The stock was above both its 20-day (201.44) and 50-day (188.88) moving averages.
• Bajaj Auto closed at 9848.00, down 0.37%. RSI (14) was 57.21. The MACD line was 130.3285 and the MACD signal was 127.4135. The stock was above both its 20-day (9652.30) and 50-day (9402.57) moving averages.
• Sun Pharma closed at 1730.00, down 0.12%. RSI (14) was 59.55. The MACD line was 10.9222 and the MACD signal was 4.8461. The stock was above both its 20-day (1690.23) and 50-day (1703.46) moving averages.

Bigger picture

The session reflected rotation rather than a one-way market structure. Early broad strength lost force at the index level as Reliance weakened, while selected sector leaders held gains.

The latest technical setup also showed dispersion across large caps: Reliance and ITC were above their 20-day moving averages but below their 50-day moving averages, while Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, and Sun Pharma were above both moving averages.

This helps explain why benchmark direction and stock-level performance diverged through the day.