The Indian market was closed for the Christmas holiday on Thursday. On Wednesday, Dalal Street closed lower, with the Sensex and Nifty retreating amid thin, pre-holiday trading as foreign investors turned net sellers and a lack of fresh triggers kept risk appetite in check. Losses in oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and IT stocks weighed on the benchmarks as markets headed into the Christmas break.
The Sensex fell 116 points, or 0.14%, to end at 85,408.70, while the Nifty 50 slipped 35 points, or 0.13%, to close at 26,142.10.
Indian equities moved largely sideways in a holiday-shortened week, with trading volumes remaining subdued as the year draws to a close, a trend mirrored across broader Asian markets, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that the RBI’s recently announced liquidity initiatives, including OMOs and a USD/INR buy–sell swap, are expected to improve systemic liquidity and help stabilise currency volatility.
"On the global front, stronger-than-expected US GDP data points to economic resilience, although rising unemployment has tempered optimism. Gold extended its rally on a softer dollar and elevated geopolitical risks, supported by increasing expectations of continued Fed policy easing. Meanwhile, Brent crude hovered near multi-year lows, reinforcing a benign inflation outlook. Looking ahead, market activity is likely to remain muted, though investors will be closely tracking developments on the trade front," said Nair.Also read | 5 Wall Street moguls who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad — Guess what they’re saying now!
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at record closing highs on Wednesday, while gold held just below the $4,500 mark by the conclusion of a light-volume, truncated Christmas Eve session.
All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session in positive territory, with the benchmark S&P 500 set to notch a gain of nearly 18% for the year.
"We maintain a positive bias amid the ongoing consolidation in the index and continue to recommend a “buy-on-dips” approach as long as the Nifty holds its prevailing uptrend," said Ajit Mishra, SVP Research at Religare Broking.
For fresh momentum, stronger participation from the banking index will be essential, with a decisive breakout above the 59,500 level likely to fuel the next leg of the up move, said Mishra, adding that "Until then, participants are advised to adopt a stock-specific approach, focus on sectors showing consistent outperformance such as private banks, metals and auto, and adhere to disciplined risk management in the low-volume environment."
JBM Auto (Rs 2,302 crore), Hindustan Copper (Rs 2,030 crore), Jupiter Wagons (Rs 1,660 crore), RIL (Rs 1,375 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,365 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,220 crore) and Shriram Finance (Rs 1,030 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 60.65 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 7.9 crore), Jupiter Wagons (Traded shares: 4.9 crore), Hindustan Copper (Traded shares: 4.7 crore), Castrol India (Traded shares: 4.64 crore), Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 4.59 crore) and YES Bank (Traded shares: 4.54 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.
Shares of JBM Auto, Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, Reliance Power, IIFL Finance, Nuvama Wealth Management and Olectra Greentech were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
Over 115 stocks hit their 52-week highs today while 102 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Vedanta and Maruti Suzuki.
Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Kajaria Ceramic, Navin Fluorine, HFCL, Kirloskar Oil, Godawari Power, BSE and DB Realty.
The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,332 stocks that traded on the BSE on Wednesday, 2,346 stocks witnessed declines, 1,841 saw advances, while 145 stocks remained unchanged.
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