Taking Stock: Market extends losses; Nifty below 25,900, Sensex drags 533 pts

Market Today

In yet another volatile session, the Indian equity markets ended lower for the second consecutive day on December 16 amid continued depreciation in rupee, and uncertainty over India-US trade deal.

On the back of weak global cues, Nifty opened below 26,000 and traded in negative zone throughout the session with last hour profit booking dragged the index below 25,850.

At close, the Sensex was down 533.50 points or 0.63 percent at 84,679.86, and the Nifty was down 167.20 points or 0.64 percent at 25,860.10. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down nearly 1 percent each.

Indian rupee lost 1 percent in the last five trading sessions against US dollar as it crossed 91 mark for the first time today, hitting record low of 91.08 per dollar, during the session.

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Axis Bank, Eternal, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, JSW Steel were among major losers on the Nifty, while gainers were Bharti Airtel, Tata Consumer, Titan Company, M&M, Bajaj Auto.

Except Consumer Durables, FMCG and telecom, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with realty, oil & gas, metal, IT, PSU Bank, Private Bank down 0.5-1%.

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Index	Prices	Change	Change%
Sensex	74,563.92	-1,470.50	-1.93%
Nifty 50	23,151.10	-488.05	-2.06%
Nifty Bank	53,757.85	-1,343.10	-2.44%

Nifty 50 23,151.10 -488.05 (-2.06%)

Fri, Mar 13, 2026

• 1D
• 5D
• 1M
• 3M
• 6M
• 1Y
• 2Y

Biggest Gainer	Prices	Change	Change%
TATA Cons. Prod	1,083.60	25.80	+2.44%

Biggest Loser	Prices	Change	Change%
Larsen	3,439.00	-280.50	-7.54%

Best Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty FMCG	47924.15	-265.00	-0.55%

Worst Sector	Prices	Change	Change%
Nifty Metal	11292.50	-571.40	-4.82%

In stock-specific action, KNR Constructions shares slipped 3% on tax demand order worth Rs 72 crore, Gallantt Ispat shares added 2% post 1.2 million shares traded in a block, SEPC shares rose 5% on purchase order from Vishnu Prakash R Punglia, Ion Exchange India share price added 2% on contracts win worth Rs 205 crore.

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More than 120 stocks hit 52-week low, including Devyani International, Jubilant Foodworks, Westlife Foodworld, Sheela Foam, NCC, REC, Sapphire Foods, Mankind Pharma, Piramal Pharma, Petronet LNG, Page Industries, ACC, SKF India, among others. Click to View More

Outlook for December 17

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The day favored the bears as the Nifty remained below the key 200 SMA on the hourly chart throughout the session. Additionally, the index failed to retest the morning high, indicating complete control by the bears.

On the downside, the support at 25,870 was breached, intensifying bearish sentiment in the market.

In the short term, the index may drift lower towards 25,700 and lower. On the upside, the 25,950–26,000 zone is likely to act as a crucial resistance in the near term.

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

After showing a sustainable upside recovery from the lows on Monday, Nifty slipped into sharp weakness on Tuesday amidst weak global cues and closed the day lower by 167 points. After opening on a downside gap of 75 points, the market continued to slide lower in the early to midpart of the session. However, there was a minor recovery towards the end and Nifty finally closed at the lows.

A reasonable negative candle was formed on the daily chart, which signals an inability of bulls to surpass the key hurdle of 26000 levels. The negative chart pattern like lower highs and lows has formed on the daily chart and the Nifty seems to have formed a new lower top of the pattern at 26057 levels few sessions back.

The underlying trend of Nifty remains choppy with weak bias. The market is expected to slide down to its next support band of 25800-25700 levels in the short term. Any bounce back from here could find strong hurdle around 26000 levels.

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