Key indices continue to trade below neutral lines

Sensex and Nifty continued to trade below their neutral lines in late afternoon session. US President Donald Trump’s recent threats of imposing more tariffs on Indian rice sparked caution among investors amid ongoing bilateral trade pact negations between both countries. Besides, traders kept risk averse stance ahead of Federal Reserves’ monetary policy outcome schedule on December 10. Meanwhile, broader markets have outshined the key indices with BSE Mid cap and BSE Small cap index gaining 0.39% and 0.87%, respectively. 

On the global front, Asian and European equity markets were trading mostly in red as traders remain anxious about the Federal Reserve's future easing pace. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84623.82, down by 478.87 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 84382.96 and 84947.89. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.86%, Capital Goods up by 0.74%, Industrials up by 0.72%, Telecom up by 0.47% and PSU up by 0.28%, while IT down by 1.04%, TECK down by 0.87%, Auto down by 0.67%, Metal down by 0.48% and Energy down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.37%, Eternal up by 1.79%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.13%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.54% and Axis Bank up by 0.40%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.74%, Tata Steel down by 1.53%, HCL Technologies down by 1.47% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to conduct a USD/INR buy-sell swap auction of $5 billion (about Rs 45,000 crore) for a tenor of thirty-six months on December 16, 2025 to inject liquidity. The swap is in the nature of a simple buy/sell foreign exchange swap from the Reserve Bank side. A bank will sell US dollars to the Reserve Bank and simultaneously agree to buy the same amount of US dollars at the end of the swap period. Under the swap auction, the minimum bid size would be $10 million and in multiples of $1 million thereafter.

Besides, the RBI will also conduct an open market operation (OMO) purchase auctions of government securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 1,00,000 crore in two tranches of Rs 50,000 crore each on December 11, 2025 and December 18, 2025. The RBI also said it will continue to monitor evolving liquidity and market conditions and take measures as appropriate to ensure orderly liquidity conditions. The central bank had decided on a USD/INR buy-sell swap and OMO after reviewing the liquidity situation and the outlook.

The decision on the two measures to manage liquidity conditions was announced by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, while unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policy. He had said ‘I would like to reiterate that we are committed to providing sufficient durable liquidity to the banking system. We continuously assess the durable liquidity requirements of the banking system due to changes in currency in circulation, forex operations, and reserve maintenance. Going forward, too, we shall continue to do so’. He added that the measures will ensure adequate, durable liquidity in the system and further facilitate monetary transmission. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25817.90, down by 142.65 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 25728.00 and 25923.65. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 2.38%, Eternal up by 1.72%, Shriram Finance up by 1.32%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.15% and Adani Enterprises up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.38%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.83%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.77%, HCL Technologies down by 1.71% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 121.18 points or 0.43% to 28,182.60, Hang Seng declined 375.36 points or 1.48% to 25,390.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.56 points or 0.37% to 3,909.52, Jakarta Composite plunged 70.39 points or 0.81% to 8,640.31, Straits Times fell 0.28 points or 0.01% to 4,506.80 and KOSPI dropped 11.30 points or 0.27% to 4,143.55, while Nikkei 225 surged 70.06 points or 0.14% to 50,652.00.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.59 points or 0.14% to 9,631.50 and France’s CAC fell 11.33 points or 0.14% to 8,097.10, while Germany’s DAX gained 89.39 points or 0.37% to 24,135.40.