Key gauges end lower for second straight day

Indian equity benchmarks closed lower for the second straight day on Tuesday, as investors booked profit ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision. Persistent foreign fund outflows and weak global cues weighed on the investors' sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 655.59 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Some of the important factors in trade:

Agri growth estimated to be lower at 4% in FY26: Ramesh Chand, member of government think tank Niti Aayog, said that India's agriculture sector growth is estimated to be lower at 4 per cent in the 2025-26 financial year compared to the rate of 4.6 per cent recorded in the previous fiscal.

PSBs write off Rs 6.15 lakh crore loans in five and a half years: Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that public sector banks (PSBs) have written off loans worth Rs 6.15 lakh crore during the last five financial years and the current financial year till September 30, 2025 (provisional data). 

India, Chile discuss progress of trade pact talks: India and South American country Chile have reviewed the progress of a proposed trade pact between the two countries. The two countries on December 5, 2025 concluded the fourth round of negotiations for the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). 

Rupee rises against US Dollar: Indian rupee pared its initial losses and settled for the day in the positive territory against the US dollar, as American currency and crude oil prices retreated from their elevated levels. However, a negative trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as global investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy update.  Asian markets settled mostly lower ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision on Wednesday, where the U.S. central bank is broadly expected to deliver a 25 basis-point rate cut despite existing divisions with the committee. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 436.41 points or 0.51% to 84,666.28 and the CNX Nifty was down by 120.90 points or 0.47% to 25,839.65.      

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 84,947.89 and 84,382.96 respectively. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 1.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.27%, Industrials up by 1.16%, Realty up by 0.94%, Telecom up by 0.91% and Power up by 0.68%, while IT down by 0.89%, TECK down by 0.72%, Auto down by 0.63%, Metal down by 0.34% and Energy down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.26%, Titan Company up by 2.13%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.07%, Bharat Electronics up by 0.82% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.36%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.61%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.99%, HCL Technologies down by 1.78%, Tata Steel down by 1.74% and Sun Pharma down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic have held discussions on the outstanding issues related to the proposed trade pact. Maros is leading a delegation of EU officials for the trade talks. These meetings are important as both sides are eager to conclude the negotiations as early as possible.

Goyal stated ‘Held a productive meeting with EU Trade and Economic Security Commissioner, Mr. Maros Sefcovic. We discussed the progress on the India-EU FTA and explored ways to resolve the issues to further advance the negotiations.’ he added looking forward to continued cooperation towards a mutually beneficial FTA. Further, Sefcovic said ‘in India for a two-day marathon of meetings with Piyush Goyal to advance our trade and investment negotiations.’

In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA (free trade agreement), an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications after a gap of over eight years. It was stalled in 2013 due to differences on the level of opening up markets.

India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU was $136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth $75.85 billion and imports worth $60.68 billion), making it the largest trading partner for goods. The EU market accounts for about 17 per cent of India's total exports, and the bloc's exports to India constitute 9 per cent of its total overseas shipments.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 25,923.65 and 25,728.00 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 2.28%, Titan Company up by 1.94%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.53%, InterGlobe Aviation up by 1.31% and Shriram Finance up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.60%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.90%, HCL Technologies down by 1.82%, Wipro down by 1.53% and Tata Steel down by 1.52% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 13.66 points or 0.14% to 9,658.75 and Germany’s DAX gained 73.39 points or 0.31% to 24,119.40, while France’s CAC fell 33.13 points or 0.41% to 8,075.30.