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Markets trade lower amid global sell-off
Dec-18-2025

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly negative start on Thursday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight as well as weakness in Asian counterparts on continuing concerns over the valuation of technology stocks. Traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of report on US consumer price inflation later in the day. Sensex and Nifty were trading lower with cut of around 0.30% in early deals led by selling in Auto, Capital Goods and Realty counters. Traders also remained cautious amid lingering uncertainty over the India-US trade deal. Besides, higher crude oil prices weighted on market sentiments. Oil prices traded higher in early deals as geopolitical tensions involving Venezuela and Russia heightened concerns over global crude supply.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84283.82, down by 275.83 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 84238.43 and 84570.60. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.76%, while Small cap index was down by 1.02%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.37% and TECK up by 0.28%, while Auto down by 1.47%, Capital Goods down by 1.26%, Realty down by 1.15%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.14% and Oil & Gas down by 1.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.84%, TCS up by 0.30%, ITC up by 0.26%, HCL Technologies up by 0.22% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 2.31%, Sun Pharma down by 2.18%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.02%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.05% and NTPC down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with the help of robust domestic demand and steady macro fundamentals, CareEdge Ratings in its latest report has estimated India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 7.5% in FY26 and 7.0% in FY27. Besides, nominal GDP growth is projected at 8.3%, lower than the budgeted 10.1% for FY26. It said in H1 FY26, healthy agricultural activity, reduced income tax burden, GST rationalisation, RBI rate cuts, festive demand and front-loading of exports supported growth. It further projected that GDP growth to moderate to around 7% in H2 FY26 as the impact of export front-loading fades and consumption demand normalises after the festive season. By Q4 FY26, the low base effect is likely to wane, and the deflator is likely to rise from current low levels.

On the inflation front, it said inflation likely to remain benign, with average CPI inflation projected at 2.1% in FY26. With low base of FY26, CPI inflation is expected to average 4% in FY27. It noted that 75% of the items in the CPI basket witnessing inflation below 4%, thereby implying broad-based moderation in inflation. It further expects that the Centre will be able to bring down the debt to around 50 (+/-1) % by the end of FY31 from the estimated 56.1% in FY25. It noted that the Government may go little slower on fiscal consolidation, with the fiscal deficit to GDP likely to be budgeted at 4.2-4.3% in FY27. With strong growth in order book of capital good companies, it said the country’s CAPEX cycle is screening early signs of revival. Foreign investors are also making a note of the country’s growth opportunity, getting reflected in a jump in gross FDI inflows into the country, especially in the new age sectors like EV, renewables, electronics, data centre and AI infrastructure. 

On exports front, it highlights that India’s shipments to the US have seen a decline across most category, following the imposition of 50% US reciprocal tariffs from end-Aug. Labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles and ready-made garments showed a sharp contraction in exports in Sep-Oct. On other hand, market shares for UAE and Hong Kong have risen in India’s gems & jewellery exports, while UAE and China have gained share in India’s textile exports. It estimated India’s goods exports to contract by around 1% in FY26 as against a growth of 0.1% in FY25. It highlighted that the encouraging performance in services exports is likely to continue with a projected growth of 8.5% in FY26 against 13.6% in FY25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25740.75, down by 77.80 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 25726.30 and 25827.15. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 0.91%, Wipro up by 0.80%, Shriram Finance up by 0.57%, ITC up by 0.34% and TCS up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 2.22%, Sun Pharma down by 2.00%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.87%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.54% and Eicher Motors down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 595.28 points or 1.22% to 48,917.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 161.01 points or 0.59% to 27,364.16, Hang Seng declined 114.78 points or 0.45% to 25,354.00, KOSPI dropped 74.37 points or 1.87% to 3,982.04, Jakarta Composite fell 9.06 points or 0.1% to 8,668.29 and Straits Times was down by 8.94 points or 0.2% to 4,566.54, while Shanghai Composite was up by 6.12 points or 0.16% to 3,876.40.
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