Indian equity benchmarks will remain closed on Wednesday, as per the BSE website. The domestic benchmarks will be shut on account of Christmas. Equity, equity derivative, SLB (Security Lending, Borrowing) and currency derivatives segments will remain closed. Commodity markets will also be closed for both morning and evening sessions. This would be the final marked trading holiday by bourses BSE and NSE for the calendar year 2024, barring weekends. In the new year 2025, indices will observe 14 trading holidays.
That said, domestic benchmarks settled slightly lower in the previous session as metals, IT, PSU banks and financials shares dragged. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack fell 67 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 78,473, while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 26 points or 0.11 per cent down to close at 23,728.
Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) finished on a mixed note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 slipping 0.06 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.24 per cent. India VIX, fear index, shed 2.53 per cent to 13.18-level.
10 out of the 18 sectoral indices on NSE settled in the red. Sub-indices Nifty Metal, Nifty IT, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Financial Services underperformed the index by falling 0.83 per cent, 0.36 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.20 per cent, respectively. In contrast, Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG logged gains.
Frontline stocks such as Infosys, State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Titan and Bajaj Finance Ltd fell up to 1.62 per cent. Also, BSE500 counters like Intellect Design Arena Ltd, KIOCL, KEC, Go Digit General Insurance Ltd and Torrent Pharma tanked up to 4.91 per cent.
On the other hand, Finolex Cables, Gillette, Emami, RBL Bank, Amber Enterprises India, Solar Industries, Biocon, MRPL, Kfin Tech and Tata Investment jumped up to 9.88 per cent.
Out of a total of 4,092 stocks that last traded on BSE, 2,060 settled with losses while 1,936 others ended higher. The rest 96 stocks stayed unchanged.
The domestic bourses will resume trading on December 26 (Thursday).
Technical view: Nifty outlook
"Nifty closed below the 200-DMA (day moving average) for the first time in three days, confirming a short-term bearish trend. Momentum indicator RSI (relative strength index) is in a bearish crossover and continues to decline, reinforcing the negative outlook. On the downside, support is placed at the 23,500-23,400 zone, while resistance is seen at 23,860," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
Nifty Bank outlook
Nifty Bank closed on a marginal negative note at 51,233. In the short term, the index may consolidate in the 50,540-51,650 range. Either side breakout will set the future direction," said Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP of Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C Mehta Investment.