The Indian stock market closed with mild losses during Wednesday’s session, December 24, as sharp losses in IT stocks capped gains, and a lack of fresh triggers and thin year-end trading volumes also weighed on sentiment, with investors looking to the upcoming third-quarter earnings season for a confidence boost.
Overseas investors resumed their selling trend, remaining net sellers over the last two trading sessions after a brief pause, also keeping the sentiment weak.
The Nifty 50 ended the session with a decline of 0.13% at 26,142, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.14% at 85,408. Broader markets were mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 0.%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.3%.
Sector-wise, Nifty Oil and Gas shed 0.76%, while Nifty Chemicals declined by 0.76%. Tech stocks were also among the top laggards, with the Nifty IT index dropping 0.5% following amendments by the US Department of Homeland Security to the H-1B work visa selection process. Other sectors, including PSU banks, pharma, and realty, also closed in the red.
On the upside, media led the gainers, rallying 0.67%, followed by chemicals, metals, and FMCG, each surging 0.5%.
JBM Auto, metal stocks shine; select banks and NBFCs also advance
JBM Auto led the list of gainers on Wednesday, with the stock extending its rally for the fourth straight session and surging another 11% to ₹639 apiece. Metal stocks also continued their winning streak, closing another session with sharp gains led by Hindustan Copper, which jumped 7.1% to ₹436.8 apiece.
Other metal stocks, including GMDC, Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta, and Nalco, also ended higher, posting gains in the range of 3% to 5%. The sustained rally was supported by solid gains in both precious and base metal prices globally, keeping sentiment positive across the sector even as the broader market remained range-bound.
Select banking and NBFC stocks also posted strong gains, with counters such as Manappuram Finance, IIFL Finance, City Union Bank, and Aavas Financiers rising between 2% and 7%.
In late trade, Castrol India gathered momentum after its parent company, BP, announced plans to sell a 65% stake in the company to Stonepeak for $6 billion.
Coal India shares remained in the spotlight, closing higher at ₹402 apiece after the board approved the stock market listing of its subsidiaries, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).
Other top gainers in the Nifty 500 pack were Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Olectra Greentech, Bharat Dynamics, Trent, OLA, and Ather Energy, all closing with gains between 2% and 5.4%.