Sensex, Nifty fall for 2nd session; RIL, ICICI Bank slip on profit-booking

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty stayed on the back foot for the second straight session on Wednesday as investors offloaded energy and IT stocks amid a mixed trend in global markets.

A depreciating rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows added to the pressure, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 116.14 points, or 0.14 per cent, to settle at 85,408.70. During the day, it hit a high of 85,738.18 and a low of 85,342.19.

A total of 2,346 stocks declined while 1,841 advanced and 145 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 35.05 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 26,142.10.

Trading volumes in the capital markets remained subdued amid the year-end holiday-shortened week.

"After a stable start, the Nifty moved within a narrow range for most of the session in the absence of fresh triggers...Global cues continued to influence sentiment, particularly during the opening trade. However, muted volumes and weak market breadth reflected a cautious stance among participants. Overall activity remained stock-specific, with traders focusing on selective opportunities rather than broad-based positioning," Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

From the 30-Sensex firms, InterGlobe Aviation, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were among the biggest laggards.

In contrast, Trent, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, and Power Grid were among the gainers.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.37 per cent, and the smallcap index dipped 0.14 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, oil & gas declined 0.76 per cent, followed by BSE Focused IT (0.68 per cent), services (0.64 per cent), energy (0.58 per cent) and IT (0.44 per cent).

On the other hand, BSE telecommunication, realty and metal were the gainers.

"Markets ended marginally lower on Wednesday after slipping from their intra-day highs, as profit-booking in select sectors and continued selling by FIIs capped the upside," Gaurav Garg, Research Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

Domestic equity markets will remain closed on Thursday for Christmas.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended lower while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in positive territory.

European markets were trading marginally higher. US markets ended higher on Tuesday.

"Indian equities moved largely sideways in a holiday-shortened week, with trading volumes remaining subdued as the year draws to a close -- a trend mirrored across broader Asian markets. The RBI's recently announced liquidity initiatives, including OMOs and a USD/INR buy-sell swap, are expected to improve systemic liquidity and help stabilise currency volatility," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said it will purchase government securities worth Rs 2 lakh crore and conduct a USD 10 billion buy/sell dollar-rupee swap auction to inject liquidity in the banking system.

The OMO (Open Market Operations) purchase and swap auctions will be conducted between December 29, 2025 and January 22, 2026.

The rupee pared initial gains and settled for the day lower by 16 paise at 89.79 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, fuelled by persistent capital withdrawals from foreign investors, alongside heightened greenback demand from bullion importers.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,794.80 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Domestic institutional investors, however, remained buyers as they bought equities worth Rs 3,812.37 crore.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.18 per cent, up at USD 62.49 per barrel.

Snapping the two-day gaining streak, the Sensex on Tuesday dipped 42.64 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 85,524.84. The Nifty ended marginally up by 4.75 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 26,177.15.