Equities Extend Losses for a Third Day as Media, Realty Stocks Drag

An end-of-day recap of all that transpired in the Indian markets, highlighting the major price movements and the factors driving them

India Stocks fall

By Dehuti Jani

December 17, 2025 at 11:49 AM IST

Indian equities benchmark indices extended losses for a third straight session on Wednesday, ending marginally lower as weakness in media, realty and consumer durables stocks outweighed selective buying in IT and PSU banks. The BSE Sensex closed at 84,559.65, down 0.14%, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 25,818.55, lower by 0.16%. Markets remained largely rangebound through the session as investors assessed mixed global cues and inconclusive US jobs data that failed to materially alter expectations around the interest-rate outlook.

Sectorally, Nifty Media led decliners, falling 1.7%, followed by Consumer Durables, Realty and Chemicals, while Nifty PSU Bank and IT indices ended in the green. In the Sensex pack, SBI, Infosys, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, TCS and Tata Steel were among the top gainers, rising up to 1.5%, whereas Trent, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports and Bajaj Finserv weighed on the index. Broader markets underperformed, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices down 0.54% and 0.73%, respectively.

On the macro front, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterated that reducing India’s debt-to-GDP ratio will be a core focus in the next financial year, while reports suggested the government is exploring a credit guarantee scheme to support the stressed microfinance sector.

Top Movers of the Day
PSU banks outperformed, with the Nifty PSU Bank index up 1%. SBI, Canara Bank, Bank of India, PNB, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda each gained around 1% in intraday trade. Indian Overseas Bank fell 5.4% after the government proposed to divest up to 3% equity via an offer for sale.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd climbed as much as 5.4% to ₹193 after Nomura upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’, citing attractive valuations following a sharp correction and margin tailwinds from softer gas prices.

Reliance Industries gained after Morgan Stanley raised its target price to ₹1,847 from ₹1,701, maintaining an Overweight rating and highlighting undervalued future monetisation opportunities.

Aditya Birla Real Estate advanced 3.4% after the Competition Commission of India approved ITC’s acquisition of its pulp and paper business.

Ola Electric Mobility extended its decline, slipping 3% to ₹33.30. The stock is down 11% over the past two sessions after founder Bhavish Aggarwal monetised part of his stake to fully repay a ₹2.6 billion promoter-level loan.

VLS Finance jumped 12.2% to ₹308.95 after announcing an update on its buyback proposal.

Blue Cloud Softech Solutions rose nearly 4% after being empanelled as a BSNL partner for 5G Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA) services.

Ahluwalia Contracts (India) rose up to 7.6% after securing an order from the Bihar State Tourism Development, with trading volumes jumping more than 21 times the recent average.

Meesho Ltd. surged over 19% to a fresh high of ₹214.4 following a bullish call from UBS, marking its strongest session since listing.

Nephrocare Health Services debuted with a 7% premium, listing at ₹491.70 on the BSE and ₹490 on the NSE.

Park Medi World made a muted stock market debut in an otherwise positive session. The hospital chain’s shares opened at ₹158.80 on the NSE, a discount of ₹3.2 (2%) to the issue price of ₹162, while on the BSE the stock listed at ₹155.60, a discount of ₹6.4 (4%).

Futures & Options
Nifty December 2025 futures The Nifty December 2025 futures closed at 25,910, trading at a premium of 91.45 points over the Nifty’s cash close of 25,818.55. Market volatility continued to ease, with the India VIX declining 2.23% to 9.84, reflecting reduced near-term uncertainty. Vedanta, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India were the most actively traded individual stock futures in the F&O segment. The December 2025 derivatives contracts are scheduled to expire on 30 December 2025.

Bonds
Indian government bond yields edged higher on Wednesday as traders positioned cautiously ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s scheduled ₹500 billion bond purchase and weighed the liquidity impact of the central bank’s recent intervention in the currency market. The benchmark 10-year G-Sec yield ended at 6.5995%, up from 6.5745% on Tuesday, retracing part of its recent decline. While the RBI’s move to stem the rupee’s slide has raised expectations of additional liquidity support, investors remained defensive ahead of Thursday’s operation—expected to focus on the former benchmark 6.33% 2035 paper—keeping upward pressure on yields.

Forex
The rupee posted its strongest single-day gain in nearly two months on Wednesday, rising 0.7% to close at 90.38 per US dollar after decisive intervention by the Reserve Bank of India arrested a five-session slide and curbed emerging speculative pressure. The currency had touched a record low of 91.0750 in the previous session before rebounding sharply soon after markets opened, mirroring the RBI’s aggressive intervention episodes seen in October and November to break one-way moves.

Crypto
Crypto markets staged a cautious recovery following recent selloffs, with Bitcoin leading gains even as investor sentiment remained deeply risk-averse. Bitcoin rose 0.78% to $86,573, briefly reclaiming the $87,000 mark, while the broader digital asset market posted modest advances across several sectors. However, the Fear & Greed Index remained subdued at 16, underscoring persistent nervousness among traders. Major tokens such as Ethereum, XRP, Solana, BNB and Dogecoin logged mild gains.

US Stock Futures
US stock futures edged higher on Wednesday, attempting to snap a recent run of declines as investors assessed what the latest US jobs data signals for Federal Reserve policy and the broader economic outlook. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.2% each, following a mixed close on Wall Street in the previous session.

US Treasury Notes
US Treasury yields moved higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield hovering around 4.17%, reversing part of Tuesday’s decline. The uptick reflects investor caution ahead of a key US inflation report due on Thursday and comments from Federal Reserve officials later in the day. Markets are balancing signs of a cooling labour market highlighted by unemployment rising to 4.6% against concerns that inflation pressures may remain sticky, prompting modest price declines and higher yields across most maturities.

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