Benchmark equity indices ended Tuesday's session largely flat as volatility persisted around the weekly expiry of Nifty futures. The market opened lower and hovered around the flat line for most of the session. Mild selling pressure emerged toward the close, though the Nifty still managed to eke out marginal gains. Metal and chemical shares were in demand while IT, PSU banks and healthcare stocks witnessed selling.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. Sentiment found support from a firmer rupee and improving global cues. Expectations of interest-rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve early next year also helped steady investor confidence.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 42.64 points or 0.05% to 85,524.84. The Nifty 50 index rose 4.75 points or 0.02% to 26,177.15.
Shriram Finance (up 2.42%), ITC (up 1.53%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.94%) supported the Nifty today.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 0.38%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,292 shares rose and 1,892 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 3.07% to 9.38.
Economy:
The Index of Eight Core Industries rose 1.8% year-on-year in November, driven by higher output of cement, steel, fertilisers and coal. Cement production grew 14.5%, fertilisers 5.6%, steel 6.1% and coal 2.1%, while crude oil output fell 3.2% and natural gas production declined 2.5%. The index tracks eight sectors that together account for over 40% of the weight in the Index of Industrial Production.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.19% to 6.656 compared with previous session close of 6.669.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee traded flat at 89.6850 compared with the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2026 settlement advanced 1.06% to Rs 138,188.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.39% to 97.57.
The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.53% to 4.147.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2025 settlement added 3 cents or 0.05% to $62.10 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Most European markets declined on Tuesday as investors awaited Spain's final GDP data, due later in the day. Provisional figures released last month showed year-on-year growth of 2.8%.
Most Asian market ended higher, after AI trade lifted major Wall Street indexes overnight.
Nvidia shares rose more than 1% after media reports said that the company was looking to start shipments of its H200 chips to China by mid-February.
Singapore's inflation in November remained steady at 1.2%. Core inflation in the city-state, which strips out prices of private transport and accommodation, also came in at 1.2%, compared to expectations of 1.3%.
Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 gained 0.64%, posting its third positive day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.47%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.52%.
New Listing:
Shares of KSH International settled at Rs 354.55 on the BSE, a discount of 7.67% compared with the issue price of Rs 384.
The stock debuted at Rs 370 on the BSE, a discount of 3.65% over the issue price. The stock has hit a high of Rs 370 and a low of Rs 350.05. On the BSE, 5.72 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Shares of ACC slipped 1.21%, while Ambuja Cements climbed 1.25% and Orient Cement surged 4.18% after Ambuja Cements unveiled a major consolidation plan.
In a regulatory filing, Ambuja said its board has approved schemes to amalgamate ACC and Orient Cement into Ambuja Cements. The move will create a single pan-India cement platform. Under the proposed share swap, Ambuja will issue 328 equity shares of face value Rs 2 each for every 100 ACC shares of face value Rs 10 each. Orient Cement shareholders will receive 33 Ambuja shares of face value Rs 2 each for every 100 shares of Orient Cement with face value Re 1.
Belrise Industries surged 6.18% after the company announced a strategic agreement with Israel-based Plasan Sasa. Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly identify and pursue defence-related business opportunities in India.
IRB Infrastructure Developers rose 1.59% after its associate, IRB Infrastructure Trust, emerged as the preferred bidder for a highway asset under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model.
Sunita Tools rose 2.13% after the company announced a strategic memorandum of understanding with a Middle East-based partner to support an upcoming defence order.
Shakti Pumps India rose 2.72% after the company received a Letter of Empanelment/Award worth Rs 356.77 crore from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) for the supply of off-grid solar water pumping systems.
RITES jumped 4.06% after it has won an international order worth $35.2 million from Ndalama Capital, South Africa for the supply and commissioning of in-service Cape gauge ALCO diesel-electric locomotives on a CIF basis.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.30%. The company announced that its Hydrocarbon Onshore business vertical (L&T Onshore) has secured a major engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) order from Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).
Puravankara zoomed 7.96% after it has acquired a 53.5-acre land parcel in Anekal Taluk, Bengaluru, with a potential gross development value of over Rs 4,800 crore.
Antony Waste Handling Cell surged 5.94% after the company announced that its arm, Antony Lara Enviro Solutions, has secured a contract worth Rs 329.45 crore for the development of a mixed solid waste processing plant in Maharashtra.
IPO Update:
Gujarat Kidney and Super Speciality received bids for 3,50,35,904 shares as against 1,32,26,880 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 16:36 IST on Tuesday (23 December 2025). The issue was subscribed 2.65 times. The issue opened for bidding on 22 December 2025 and it will close on 24 December 2025. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 108 and 114 per share.
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