Stock Market Cues: Trump-Zelenskyy Meet, China Fiscal Spending, Crude Oil, Gold And Silver Price Today

Stock Market Cues: In the trading session on December 29, market participants will react to a host of global and domestic cues and key macroeconomic data sets scheduled to be released later today.

Earlier on on December 27, benchmark indices finished lower, ending the holiday-shortened week amid thin year‑end trading volumes and lack of positive cues.

Sensex fell 367.25 points, or 0.43 per cent, to close at 85,041.45, and Nifty 50 ended lower by 99.80 points, or 0.38 per cent at 26,042.30.

Stock Market Cues To Watch On December 29

The following are the opening cues market participants are likely to react to:

Trump-Zelenskyy Meet: Progress Made Towards Ending Russia-Ukraine War

US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy said their talks in Florida had made progress toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war, though Trump acknowledged that the question of territory remains “unresolved.”

Both leaders described the meeting as “great,” but Trump said one or two “very thorny issues” were still remaining.

Zelenskyy, for his part, said the two sides had reached agreement on about 90 per cent of a proposed 20-point peace plan. He added that discussions were constructive and focused on bringing the war to an end. Zelenskyy later said US and Ukrainian teams would meet again next week to continue talks on the remaining issues.

China Fiscal Spending 2026

China will pursue more “proactive” fiscal policies in 2026, and boosting domestic demand will be at the centre of these policies.

China will boost consumption and actively expand investment in new productive forces and people's overall development, the country’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement after a two-day meeting held in Beijing on December 27-28.

India IIP Data November 2025

The National Statistical Office (NSO), which operates under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), is set to release India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for November 2025 later today. Market participants will keep a close watch for cues on the pace of industrial activity, particularly trends in manufacturing, mining and electricity output.

Anti-Dumping Duties On Two Chinese Products

India has imposed anti-dumping duties on two Chinese products this month to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.

The duties cover cold-rolled non-oriented electrical steel and the refrigerant gas 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane, also known as R-134a. Authorities found that these goods were being exported from China to India at prices below normal levels.

In a separate notification, India also imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch from Vietnam, which is widely used in the plastics industry.

India’s Forex Reserves Rises Significantly

India’s foreign exchange reserves rose significantly by $4.368 billion to $693.318 billion in the week ended December 19, according to latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the previous week, the country’s overall forex reserves had grown by a relatively modest $1.689 billion to $688.949 billion.

The increase was largely led by a strong rise in gold reserves, which climbed $2.62 billion to $110.36 billion during the week.

Exports Seen Rising Modestly In FY26

India’s exports are expected to grow only modestly in 2025-26, rising about 3 per cent to nearly $850 billion, according to think tank Global Trade Research Initiative’s (GTRI) assessment. The think tank warned that weakening global growth, rising protectionism and new climate-linked trade measures will make sustaining export momentum increasingly difficult in the coming year.

This projection comes at a time when Indian exporters are grappling with steep US tariffs, some as high as 50 per cent, while a potential India-US trade deal remains in limbo.

Crude Oil Prices

Crude oil prices rose in early trade today as market participants weighed in rising tensions in the Western Asia region. The fresh Saudi-Yemen conflict has raised supply-risk concerns, leading traders to push oil prices higher.

The March Brent Crude Oil futures rose as much as 1 per cent to $60.87 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures gained up to 1.09 per cent to $57.36 per barrel.

Tensions in Yemen have intensified after southern separatists accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against their forces in the east of the country.

US Stock Market

In the US, Wall Street's benchmark indices closed marginally lower, snapping a five-session rally.

The Dow Jones fell 0.04 per cent, the S&P 500 closed 0.03 per cent lower, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.09 per cent.

Asian Stock Markets

Asia's major stock indices traded largely lower in early trade on December 29.

Japan's Nikkei 225 traded lower by 0.40 per cent, China's CSI 300 was down 0.15 per cent, and the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng traded flat-to-negative. However, South Korea's Kospi traded up by 1.81 per cent.

Gold And Silver Prices

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), February Gold futures traded flat with a slight negative bias at Rs 1,39,850 per 10 grams, after scaling to an intraday high at Rs 1,40,444 per 10 grams.

MCX March Silver futures jumped up to 6 per cent to touch a new record high at Rs 2,54,174 per kilogram. As of the time of writing, it pared some early gains to trade at Rs 2,48,904 per kilogram, up 3.80 per cent from previous close.

Rupee Vs US Dollar

The rupee fell 19 paise to 89.95 against the US dollar in early trade today amid continued foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of world's six major currencies, traded 0.11 per cent higher at 97.80.