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Informist, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025

 

By Arya S. Biju

 

MUMBAI – The domestic benchmark indices fell sharply Tuesday owing to weak global cues and the fall in the Indian rupee past the psychologically-crucial mark of 91 per dollar. Globally, equity markets were down amid selling in artificial intelligence-related stocks ahead of the US employment data for October and November. The broader market indices were also under immense selling pressure and underperformed the headline indices.

 

After opening just 0.2% lower, both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex fell further and closed 0.6% down. The continued fall in shares of financial services companies, private banks, and IT firms kept the 50-stock index under pressure throughout the session. The Nifty 50 closed at 25860.10 points, close to the support levels cited by analysts Monday. The BSE Sensex closed at 84679.86 points, down more than 500 points.

 

Tuesday, the rupee ended at a record closing low of 91.0275 a dollar. The Indian currency breached the 91-per-dollar mark just 10 sessions after it had first fallen below 90. "Further sharp weakness in rupee was not expected today since the November trade (deficit) data has come better-than-expected. Covering of short positions may be a factor in today's decline. Sustained FII (foreign institutional investor) selling is acting like a vicious cycle pulling the rupee down," V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Investments, said in note.

 

Normally, when the rupee declines, the Reserve Bank of India intervenes by selling dollars to stem the fall. But of late the RBI's policy has been to let the currency decline, Vijaykumar said. Strong demand for dollars on behalf of oil-marketing companies and other importers, who fear further weakness in the Indian currency, weighed on the rupee Tuesday, according to dealers at the foreign exchange market.

 

All major indices in the US closed lower Monday as AI-related stocks continued to fall. Most Asian indices also closed lower Tuesday, dragged down by technology stocks, which fell ahead of the key US jobs reports, which will be closely monitored for cues on the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy in the coming year.

 

A major sell-off in the broader market dragged down the mid- and small-cap indices, which underperformed their benchmark peers. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell nearly 1%. The market's fear guage, India VIX, closed 1.8% lower at 10.0625 points after rising in the previous session.

 

Shares of most domestic IT companies closed lower, mirroring their global peers, which fell ahead of the US jobs data. Adding to the negative sentiment, brokerage Citi reiterated its cautious stance on global and Indian IT services as the sector's demand outlook continues to point to a slow recovery, The Economic Times reported. The Nifty IT index closed nearly 1% lower at 38062.50 points, with all its constituents except Tech Mahindra down 0.2-1.9%. The sectoral index closed down after rising for three sessions in a row, in which it gained 1.6%.

 

The Nifty Financial Services, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Private Bank each closed around 1% lower. Among private-sector bank stocks, Axis Bank closed over 5% down and was the biggest laggard in the Nifty 50 after the management indicated that net interest margins are likely to bottom out later than expected, according to a CNBC-TV18 report.

 

Meanwhile, most fertiliser stocks rose after reports that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said there would be no fertiliser shortage during the current rabi season as the government has built a "bumper buffer" of urea to meet higher demand following the good monsoon and rising fertiliser use by farmers. This is expected to strengthen the earnings of fertiliser companies, as it would reduce the risk of seasonal shortages, panic buying, and sudden policy interventions, which have in the past led to supply disruptions and working-capital stress, Seema Srivastva of SMC Global Securities said. Shares of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore, Madras Fertilizers, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, National Fertilizers, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, and Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals closed 0.2-4.6% up.

 

Shares of Vedanta, which remained choppy throughout the session, rose sharply towards the end and closed nearly 4% higher. The stock rose after the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal approved the company's demerger plan, rejecting the government's objections.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 11 rose and 39 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 7 rose and 23 fell

* On the NSE, 1,023 stocks rose, 2,095 fell, and 93 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,654 stocks rose, 2,523 fell, and 158 were unchanged

* Nifty Realty: down 1.3%; Nifty Private Bank: down 1.2%; Nifty Consumer Durables: up 0.6%

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BSE                                                NSE

Sensex: 84679.86, down 533.50 points or 0.6%        Nifty 50: 25860.10, down 167.20 points or 0.6%

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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 Rajeev Pai

 

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