Stock Market News: Sensex, Nifty End Near Day’s Low After Range-Bound Session

Stock Market News: Benchmark indices failed to hold on to early gains to close near the day's low on December 24. Both the Sensex and Nifty 50 opened the session on a positive note, tracking positive domestic and global cues; however, a few hours into trade, the indices started losing momentum and ended the day in the red.

At close, Sensex settled at 85,408.70, down by 116.14 points, or 0.14 per cent, and Nifty 50 ended at 26,142.10, down by 35.05 points, or 0.13 per cent.

Sensex touched an intraday low of 85,342.19, and Nifty 50 hit 26,123.

Among the broader market indices, the benchmark Nifty Smallcap 100 bucked the trend, closing 0.28 per cent higher in an otherwise subdued market. Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Microcap 250 settled lower by 0.60 per cent and 0.54 per cent, respectively. Nifty 500, which represents more than 92 per cent of the total market cap of all NSE-listed stocks, closed 0.19 per cent.

What Factors Influenced Trade Today

Markets traded higher in early trade on account of a fresh set of measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to boost liquidity. The central bank said it will buy government bonds worth Rs 2 lakh crore in four tranches over December and January. Its impact was visible in the bond markets. The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond slipped below 6.60 per cent, reversing from a nine-month high.

Global cues also played a supportive role. The US economy grew at 4.30 per cent in the September quarter, data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis showed on December 23. The stronger-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data of the world’s largest economy provided additional support to domestic market sentiment.

Oil And Gas, IT, And Pharma Drag

Among sectoral indices, barring Media, Metal and Realty, all other sectoral indices closed in red.

Leading losses, Nifty Oil & Gas fell 0.76 per cent, followed by Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma, which declined 0.51 per cent each. Nifty indices of FMCG, PSU Bank, Chemicals and Consumer Durables also settled lower. Nifty Auto and Nifty Financial Services closed flat with slight negative biases.

Nifty Bank, which tracks the 12 most actively traded and valuable banking stocks, slipped 115.95 points, or 0.20 per cent, to end at 59,183.60.

Nifty 50: Top Gainers And Losers

Trent, Shriram Finance, and Apollo Hospitals gained 2.26 per cent, 1.69 per cent and 1.46 per cent, respectively, to emerge as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. Bajaj Auto, UltraTech Cement, Maruti Suzuki India, Coal India, Power Grid, Max Healthcare, and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the top gainers.

On the other hand, the index InterGlobe Aviation slipped 1.55 per cent, Adani Enterprises closed 1.37 per cent lower, Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 1.28 per cent, Wipro declined 1.20 per cent, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles tumbled 1.10 per cent, HDFC Life Insurance plunged 1.07 per cent, and Sun Pharma fell 1.03 per cent. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Consumer Products, and Bajaj Finserv also closed lower.

Stock Market Outlook: What To Watch Next

Market participants will be tracking the rupee’s movement against the US dollar after the RBI’s liquidity measure announcement. Further, developments related to India-US trade talks will also be on traders’ radar. Several key economic data from the US are also scheduled to be released later today. These include durable goods orders, weekly initial jobless claims, new home sales, and crude oil inventories. These data points will be crucial in gauging the US Federal Reserve’s rate trajectory at its upcoming meetings.