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Key gauges end marginally lower amid volatility
Dec-24-2025

Indian equity benchmarks failed to hold opening gains and ended marginally lower in a volatile trade on Wednesday as trading volumes remained subdued amid the year-end holiday-shortened week and mixed trends in global markets. This decline was also driven by persistent capital withdrawals from foreign investors. Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,794.80 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Rupee falls against US Dollar: Indian rupee pared initial gains and settled for the day lower against the US dollar, fuelled by persistent capital withdrawals from foreign investors, alongside heightened greenback demand from bullion importers. 

Revised ITR filings cross 15 lakh mark for AY 2025-26: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said that more than 15 lakh revised Income Tax Returns (ITRs) have been filed for the ongoing assessment year (AY) 2025-26.  

Services trade important for India’s economic growth: Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal has said that services trade is important for India’s economic growth, emphasizing its strong contribution to domestic value addition vis-a-vis merchandise exports. 

RBI to boost liquidity through OMO purchase, dollar-rupee swap: With an aim of boosting liquidity in the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India is all set to conduct Open Market Operations (OMO) purchase and dollar-rupee swap auction from December 29, 2025 to January 22, 2026. 

Global front: European markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Christmas Eve. Asian markets ended mixed, mostly on thin volumes as traders stayed away on the sidelines ahead of Christmas holidays.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 116.14 points or 0.14% to 85,408.70 and the CNX Nifty was down by 35.05 points or 0.13% to 26,142.10.       

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 85,738.18 and 85,342.19 respectively. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.37%, while Small cap index was down by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.23%, Realty up by 0.09%, Basic Materials up by 0.05% and Metal up by 0.02%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.76%, Energy down by 0.58%, IT down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.42% and Consumer Durables down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Trent up by 2.36%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.87%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.66%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.56% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.43%, Sun Pharma down by 1.01%, Asian Paints down by 0.83%, Reliance Industries down by 0.82% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over early conclusion of India-US trade talks in a manner that restores deeper market access for domestic exporters, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said India is actively engaged in trade discussions with the US. Despite challenges in the US, he said that Indian exporters have maintained their exports in that market. The latest round of two-day talks concluded on December 11.

The trade talks between both the countries are important as they are working to finalise the tranche of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). Trade talks also assume significance since the Donald Trump administration imposed a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods entering American markets. As part of the pact, the US is seeking duty concessions on agri products like almonds, corn and apples, and industrial goods. India has strongly opposed any concessions in the agri and dairy sectors. India has stated that it will not compromise the interests of farmers and MSMEs. 

With an aim to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, from the current $191 billion, India and the US have held six rounds of negotiations so far. The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at $131.84 billion, including $86.5 billion in exports. According to the commerce ministry data, India's merchandise exports to the US rose 22.61% to $6.98 billion in November despite steep 50% tariffs on domestic goods. Imports during the month grew 38.29% to $5.25 billion. During the April-November period of this fiscal year, the country's exports to the US increased 11.38% to $59.04 billion, while imports rose 13.49% to $35.4 billion.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 26,236.40 and 26,123.00 respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Trent up by 2.26%, Shriram Finance up by 1.69%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.46%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.82% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.55%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.37%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.28%, Wipro down by 1.20% and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday due to thin volumes as traders stayed away ahead of Christmas holidays. Japan’s Nikkei declined, despite overnight gains on Wall Street led by reports of stronger-than-expected growth in the world's largest economy. Meanwhile, minutes from the Bank of Japan's October meeting showed policymakers broadly agreed real interest rates remain low, reinforcing expectations of gradual tightening and reduced monetary accommodation. South Korean shares fell on profit taking following a recent rally of tech and shipbuilding shares, while data from the Bank of South Korea showed consumer confidence in South Korea decreased to 109.90 points in December from 112.40 points in November.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,940.95

20.97

0.53

Hang Seng

25,818.93

44.79

0.17

Jakarta Composite

8,537.91

-46.87

-0.55

KLSE Composite

1,678.31

1.67

0.10

Nikkei 225

50,344.10

-68.77

-0.14

Straits Times

4,636.34

-2.63

-0.06

KOSPI Composite

4,108.62

-8.70

-0.21

Taiwan Weighted

28,371.98

61.51

0.22
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