Indices remain lower in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices continued to witness weakness and were trading lower with cut of around half percent in late morning deals as market participants indulged in reducing their positions.  Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in red with BSE Small cap index and BSE Mid cap index falling in the range of 0.45-0.70%. Weak cues from the global markets weighed on the domestic sentiments. Sentiments were also weak as the HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index, which measures the combined performance of India’s manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 58.9 in December 2025 from 59.7 in November. Further, a depreciating rupee, which slipped 25 paise to trade at 91.03 against the US dollar, made traders more nervous.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower following the negative cues from US markets overnight. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen piling up positions in Telecom, FMCG and Consumer Durables, while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT, Realty, Energy and Oil & Gas.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84793.89, down by 419.47 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 84716.70 and 85059.96. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.66%, while Small cap index down by 0.49%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.68%, FMCG up by 0.47% and Consumer Durables up by 0.45%, while Metal down by 1.18%, IT down by 0.98%, Realty down by 0.94%, Energy down by 0.86% and Oil & Gas down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 0.88%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.82%, Titan up by 0.72%, ITC up by 0.71% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 4.86%, Axis Bank down by 3.89%, HCL Technologies down by 1.72%, Tata Steel down by 1.33% and Infosys down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants of current fiscal has been passed by the lower house of the Parliament. Under the first batch, Lok Sabha has approved gross additional expenditure of Rs 1.32 lakh crore, which includes net cash outgo of Rs 41,455.39 crore and savings worth Rs 90,812 crore by the ministries/departments. 

As per the Supplementary, the government had sought Parliament’s approval for spending Rs 18,525 crore on fertiliser and related subsidies. It had also sought approval for outlay of around Rs 9,500 crore for the Petroleum Ministry, aimed at compensating oil marketing companies for under-recoveries. Further, the Department of Higher Education and the Commerce Ministry had sought an additional expenditure worth Rs 1,304 crore and Rs 225 crore, respectively.

During the Parliamentary session, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has emphasized that supplementary demands are extremely essential for a responsible government. She noted that the government will not allow more than two supplementary demands, and indicated that it will try to keep only one supplementary demand, if possible. She assured that the government will ensure that there is no shortage of fertilisers for farmers during the ongoing Kharif season.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25905.45, down by 121.85 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 25879.30 and 25980.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer up by 1.32%, Titan up by 1.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.10%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.96% and Asian Paints up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 4.74%, Axis Bank down by 3.88%, HCL Technologies down by 1.66%, Tata Steel down by 1.57% and JIO Financial down by 1.54% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 711.11 points or 1.42% to 49,457.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 235.54 points or 0.85% to 27,631.40, Shanghai Composite weakened 38.36 points or 0.99% to 3,829.56, KOSPI dropped 80.86 points or 1.98% to 4,009.73, Hang Seng declined 521.88 points or 2.04% to 25,107.00, Straits Times fell 7 points or 0.15% to 4,582.17 and Jakarta Composite plunged 0.18 points to 8,649.48.