Stock Market Cues: Russia-Ukraine Conflict, US-Venezuela Tensions, IIP Data Among Other Factors To Watch Today

Stock Market Cues: Market participants are likely to react to a host of fresh geopolitical tensions around the world in trade on December 30. These include Russia's claim of Ukraine's attempt to attack President Vladimir Putin's residence, US drone attacks on a Venezuelan port, and China's live-fire drills around Taiwan. Further, participants are also likely to take cues from industrial production data for November 2025 which were made public on December 29.

In the previous session on December 29, benchmark indices closed lower for the third consecutive session. Sensex and Nifty 50 pared early gains amid a thin year-end trading volumes and continued foreign fund outflows.

Sensex fell 346 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 84,695.54, while Nifty 50 declined 100 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle below the 26,000 mark at 25,942.10.

Stock Market Cues To Watch On Dec 30

Following opening cues are likely to influence investor sentiment on the D-Street on December 30:

US Stock Market

Wall Street's benchmark indices ended in red overnight, dragged by heavyweight technology stocks. Nvidia slipped 1.21 per cent, Oracle Corp dropped 1.32 per cent, and Palantir Technologies declined 2.40 per cent.

At close, Dow Jones was down 0.51 per cent, S&P 500 was lower by 0.35 per cent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.50 per cent.

Asian Stock Market

Asian stock indices largely traded lower in early trade today, tracking weak cues from the Wall Street.

As of the time of writing, Japan's Nikkei 225 traded lower by 0.12 per cent, South Korea's Kospi was down 0.10 per cent, China's CSI 300 was oscillating in a tight range between red and green, while on the other hand, Hong Kong's Hang Seng bucked the trend, trading nearly 0.50 per cent higher.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

In a fresh update on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Moscow accused Kyiv of attacking President Vladimir Putin’s residence and vowed retaliation. However, it did not provide any evidence to back its claims. Kyiv denied the allegations, dismissing them as baseless and aimed at derailing efforts toward a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

This comes as a big blow to the US President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal between the two countries.

US-Venezuela Oil Tensions

Trump on December 29 said Washington had carried out drone strikes on a port facility in Venezuela. This marks the first publicly acknowledged US land operation in the country since the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government began. According to a CNN report today, the CIA had carried out the strikes earlier this month.

Speaking about the action, Trump said, “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.” He added, “We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area ... it's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around.”

This US action could add a new geopolitical risk factor for global markets, including India.

China Launches Live-Firing Drills Around Taiwan

China conducted 10 hours of live-fire drills around Taiwan earlier today, deploying amphibious assault ships, bombers and warships as part of its military exercises aimed at rehearsing a blockade of the island. The drills, named “Justice Mission 2025”, come days after the US announced a record $11.10 billion arms package for Taiwan. According to a Reuters report, these are Beijing’s largest exercises to date in terms of scale, coverage and proximity to Taiwan.

This development adds another layer of geopolitical risk to the markets.

India IIP Data November 2025

India’s industrial production, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), expanded by 6.70 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2025, reaching a 25-month high, data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed. According to MoSPI, the November print was last surpassed in October 2023, when IIP growth stood at 11.90 per cent.

Mahendra Patil, Founder and Managing Partner, MP Financial Advisory Services LLP, said the sharp rebound in industrial output reflects a broad-based recovery, led by manufacturing, particularly in basic metals, pharmaceuticals and automobiles.

“The strength in capital goods and infrastructure-related output points to improving investment activity, while the decline in electricity generation largely reflects post-festive normalisation rather than a slowdown in underlying industrial demand,” he said.

Gold And Silver Prices

Gold and Silver prices edged higher in early trade today. On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), February Gold futures traded at Rs 1,36,360 per 10 grams, up by 1.05 per cent from previous close. March Silver futures on the MCX was up by 5.42 per cent at Rs 2,36,602 per kilogram from its previous close.

USD Vs INR

The rupee rose 9 paise to 89.98 against US dollar in early trade today, buoyed by a weaker greenback and strong IIP numbers.

However, foreign fund outflows, and a weaker opening in the domestic equity markets capped sharp gains in the local currency.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index slipped marginally to 97.65 against a basket of world's six major currencies.