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Informist, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025

 

By Arya S. Biju

 

MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices closed lower, extending losses from Wednesday's session. The headline indices moved in a thin range Friday amid muted trading activity towards the year-end. A fall in financial services, banking, and information technology stocks kept the Nifty 50 index under pressure. However, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex closed higher for the week, up 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. 

 

Friday, the Nifty 50 settled at 26042.30, down 99.80 points or 0.4%. The BSE Sensex closed at 85041.45, down 367.25 points or 0.4%. The 50-stock index closed below its crucial support of 26100 points after three sessions, but managed to stay above the 26000 points mark. 

 

"A cautious mood ahead of upcoming earnings prompted a broad-based profit booking," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said in a note. The optimism around the Santa Claus rally, which typically sees a rise in stock prices during the last five trading days of December and the first two trading days of January, has diminished amid the absence of fresh catalysts, such as progress on the long-awaited India-US trade deal, Nair added. 

 

The absence of foreign institutional buyers in the holiday-truncated week also kept the domestic equity market under pressure, analysts said. Foreign portfolio investors continued to be net sellers of Indian stocks in the first three sessions of this week, after having been net buyers for the three sessions before Monday. On Wednesday, they net sold shares worth INR 17.21 billion. Meanwhile, domestic investors remained net buyers of Indian equities, acting as a counterbalance and providing stability to the market. On Wednesday, domestic investors bought stocks worth INR 23.81 billion. 

 

The rupee ended a tad lower against the dollar Friday, after moving in a thin range amid lower volumes. The impact of a rise in crude oil prices was offset by a fall in the dollar index, foreign exchange dealers said. The Indian currency has been under pressure recently as oil marketing companies continue to buy dollars to stock up on crude oil, fearing a sharp increase in crude oil prices ahead.

 

Oil prices rose Friday as the US imposed heightened economic pressure on Venezuelan oil exports and carried out airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in northwest Nigeria at the request of the Nigerian government, according to a Reuters report. Both Venezuela and Nigeria are major oil producers. At 1606 IST, the Brent Crude Oil Futures were up 0.4% at $62.49 per barrel. 

 

In the broader market, small-cap indices closed 0.1-0.2% lower after trading higher for most of the session. Mid-cap indices, on the other hand, closed 0.2–0.4% lower. Most sectoral indices, except for Nifty Metal, Nifty Consumer Durables, and Nifty FMCG, saw selling pressure on Friday and closed flat to over 1% lower. Nifty IT, Nifty Media, and Nifty Auto led sectoral index losses, down 0.5–1.0%. Most information technology stocks remained lower Friday, extending losses for the third straight session. 

 

Shares of quick-commerce companies such as Eternal and Swiggy closed 1-2% lower after media reports said rival Zepto is set to file its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Friday. Additionally, delivery workers affiliated with these companies announced an all-India strike on Dec. 31, which is expected to affect delivery services across multiple cities, depending on how many delivery partners participate, CNBC TV18 reported. The workers also organised a strike on Christmas Day, disrupting food delivery services across major cities, including Mumbai. One of the key concerns raised by the unions is that app-based systems determine their pay, delivery targets, and incentives with little transparency. 

 

Shares of most metal companies rose Friday, with the Nifty Metal index up 0.6%, extending gains for the seventh session in a row. Gains in these stocks were supported by firmer demand signals from China and a softer US dollar amid rising bets for two interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve in 2026, media reports said. 

 

Most railway stocks were also up Friday amid growing optimism ahead of the Union Budget 2026. Analysts expect the government to maintain railways as a key focus of its broader infrastructure development agenda. The announcement of the railway ticket fare hike, effective Friday, also continued to boost investor sentiment. Shares of these companies rose for the fourth straight session after reports on Sunday said that Indian Railways had announced a new fare structure effective Friday.

 

Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam closed over 12% higher after rising around 14% intraday to INR 392.80, their highest level in over five months. Indian Railway Finance Corp., RailTel Corp. of India, IRCON International, Titagarh Rail Systems, and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. closed 4-10% higher. 

 

Among individual stocks, Ola Electric Mobility rose over 5% intraday after the electric vehicle maker received the government's approval for an INR 3.67-billion payout under the production-linked incentive scheme for automobiles and auto components. Shriram Finance closed 1.4% lower and was among the worst hit in the Nifty 50 index. The stock fell after gaining around 15% in the past six sessions. 

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 15 rose and 35 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 6 rose and 24 fell

* On the NSE, 1,285 stocks rose, 1,871 fell, and 93 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,745 stocks rose, 2,456 fell, and 178 were unchanged

* Nifty IT: down 1.0; Nifty Media: down 0.6%; Nifty Metal: up 0.6%

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BSE                                                NSE

Sensex: 85041.45, down 367.25 points or 0.4%       Nifty 50: 26042.30, down 99.80 points or 0.4%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 86159.02 (Dec. 1, 2025)	: Lifetime High: 26325.80 (Dec. 1, 2025)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26, 2024)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 85720.38 (Nov. 27)	: 2025 Closing High: 26215.55 (Nov. 27)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 86159.02 (Dec. 1)	: 2025 High (intraday): 26325.80 (Dec.1)
2025 Low (intraday): 71425.01 (Apr. 7)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21743.65 (Apr. 7)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

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End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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