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Key indices end flat in volatile trade
Dec-18-2025

In a volatile day of trade, Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with negative bias on Thursday tracking a weak trend in global markets. Lack of progress in the India-US trade negotiations also kept investors cautious. However, a rebound in the rupee and signs of renewed foreign investor buying helped limit the downside. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Highway projects delayed: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that out of 574 delayed highway projects awarded in the last five years, 300 are facing delay of less than one year, 253 projects 1-3 years and 21 projects over 3 years.

India’s GDP to grow at 7.5% in FY26: With the help of robust domestic demand and steady macro fundamentals, CareEdge Ratings in its latest report has estimated India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 7.5% in FY26 and 7.0% in FY27. 

Indian rupee recovers from recent lows: Indian rupee appreciated against the U.S. dollar, despite the broad strength of the American currency in the overseas market on suspected intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

FIIs turn net buyers after 14 sessions: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers of Indian shares on Wednesday after 14 sessions of selling and bought equities worth Rs 1,171.71 crore, according to exchange data. 

Global front: European markets were trading higher as investors awaited central bank decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Asian markets settled mostly lower after the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted to three-week lows overnight on concerns about lofty valuations for technology stocks. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 77.84 points or 0.09% to 84,481.81 and the CNX Nifty was down by 3.00 points or 0.01% to 25,815.55.       

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 84,780.19 and 84,238.43 respectively. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.05%, while Small cap index was down by 0.28%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.10%, TECK up by 0.62%, Realty up by 0.33%, Metal up by 0.17% and Consumer Durables up by 0.13%, while Power down by 1.01%, Oil & Gas down by 0.81%, Capital Goods down by 0.80%, Utilities down by 0.75% and Industrials down by 0.66% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.94%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.72%, Infosys up by 1.51%, Axis Bank up by 0.48% and HCL Technologies up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.74%, Tata Steel down by 1.26%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.15%, Asian Paints down by 0.89% and NTPC down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said that the free trade pact between India and Oman, expected to be signed on December 18, 2025. This will provide greater market access to Indian products such as petroleum, machinery, rice, iron and steel articles. GTRI stated currently, more than 80 per cent of Indian goods enter Oman at an average tariff of around 5 per cent, but duties vary widely from zero to as high as 100 per cent on select products such as certain meats, alcohol and tobacco.

GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said removing tariffs under the CEPA (comprehensive economic partnership agreement) is expected to improve competitiveness for Indian industrial exports, but long-term growth will depend on quality upgrades and product differentiation in Oman's relatively small market. He said for India, the main gains lie in merchandise exports.

GTRI said India's exports to Oman stood at $4.1 billion in FY25, led by naphtha ($747.6 million) and petrol ($561 million), alongside calcined alumina ($313 million), machinery ($231 million), aircraft ($165 million), rice ($182 million), iron and steel articles ($120 million), beauty and personal care products ($128.6 million) and ceramic products ($79.9 million). Besides, it said India imported $6.6 billion worth of goods from Oman in FY25, dominated by crude oil ($1.1 billion), liquefied natural gas ($1.1 billion) and fertilisers ($1.1 billion).

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,902.35 and 25,726.30 respectively. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Interglobe Aviation up by 2.90%, TCS up by 1.97%, Max Healthcare up by 1.64%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.62% and Infosys up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.62%, Tata Steel down by 1.40%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.23%, Asian Paints down by 0.98% and Tata Consumer Products down by 0.92% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 13.28 points or 0.14% to 9,787.60, France’s CAC rose 29.95 points or 0.37% to 8,116.00 and Germany’s DAX gained 119.31 points or 0.5% to 24,079.90.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Thursday tracking Wall Street’s fall overnight on concerns about lofty valuations for technology shares. Meanwhile, investors braced for key US inflation reading later in the day that could influence the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory in the new year. Japan's Nikkei hit three-week lows as investors positioned ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting, where markets widely expect a 25-basis point rate hike to 0.75%. However, Chinese shares gained marginally as cash-strapped China Vanke kicked off a second meeting with bond holders to extend its debt payments and avoid a default.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,876.37

6.09

0.16

Hang Seng

25,498.13

29.35

0.12

Jakarta Composite

8,618.20

-59.15

-0.69

KLSE Composite

1,646.90

5.46

0.33

Nikkei 225

49,001.50

-510.78

-1.03

Straits Times

4,570.61

-4.87

-0.11

KOSPI Composite

3,994.51

-61.90

-1.53

Taiwan Weighted

27,468.53

-56.64

-0.21
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