Benchmarks nudge higher; breadth positive

The domestic equity indices traded with moderate gains in the early trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,900 level. PSU Bank, IT and metal shares advanced, while consumer durables, media and realty shares corrected.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 129.21 points or 0.14% to 84,808.89. The Nifty 50 index added 40.25 points or 0.16% to 25,902.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.06% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.12%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,485 shares rose and 1,340 shares fell. A total of 206 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,381.92 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,077.48 crore in the Indian equity market on 16 December 2025, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RailTel Corporation of India added 0.62%. The company said that it has received a letter of acceptance (LoA) for a Rs 26.9 crore contract to implement advanced IT infrastructure at VO Chidambaranar Port.

Diamond Power Infrastructure rose 0.39%. The company has received a letter of intent (LoI) for a Rs 57.6 crore order from Rajesh Power for supply of cables.

Lupin gained 1.51%. The company said that its injectable manufacturing facility at Nagpur has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) with a Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) classification.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.14% to 6.564 compared with previous session close of 6.573.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.1200 compared with its close of 90.9375 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2025 settlement fell 0.24% to Rs 134,061.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.20% to 97.98.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.43% to 4.167.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2025 settlement gained 67 cents or 1.14% to $59.59 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asia market traded mixed on Wednesday as investors parsed trade data that just came out of Japan.

Japans exports in November grew 6.1% year on year, data from the countrys finance ministry released Wednesday showed. The growth was higher than the 3.6% rise seen in the previous month.

Oil prices climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly announced on social media platform that he will be ordering a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 fell for a third session as traders digested the delayed release of the November jobs report.

The broad market index dropped 0.24% to settle at 6,800.26, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.23% to end at 23,111.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 302.30 points, or 0.62%, to close at 48,114.26.

Nonfarm payrolls grew slightly more than expected in November but slumped in October while unemployment hit its highest in four years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday in numbers delayed by the government shutdown.

Job growth totaled a seasonally adjusted 64,000 for the month, better than a widely reported estimate of 45,000 and up from a sharp decline in October.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, its highest level since September 2021. A more encompassing measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons swelled to 8.7%, its peak going back to August 2021.

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