Indian Shares End Lower As Financial, IT Stocks Tumble

Indian shares ended Friday’s session lower despite firm cues from global markets.
Losses in financials, auto, IT, and select pharma stocks weighed on the headline indexes.

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 367.25 points, or 0.43 percent, to 85,041.45 as trading resumed after a holiday on Thursday for Christmas.

The broader NSE Nifty index fell 99.80 points, or 0.38 percent, to 26,042.30 while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes edged down 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,450 shares falling while 1,74 shares advanced and 183 shares closed unchanged.

IT stocks such as TCS, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies all fell over 1 percent following Infosys’ recent announcement of higher entry-level salaries for fresh graduates.

Bajaj FinServ, Maruti Suzuki India, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid Corp, Sun Pharma, Eternal, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance ended down between 0.8 percent and 1.5 percent.

Globally, Asian stocks advanced in thin holiday trade after the S&P 500 ended higher for a fifth day in a shortened session on Wednesday ahead of the Christmas and Boxing holidays.

Regional trading volumes, remained thin, with markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and much of Europe shut for holidays.

Oil edged up slightly and was on course for a weekly gain as investors weighed Venezuela supply risks against signals of a ceasefire between Russia-Ukraine.

Gold prices held near record highs above $4,500 per ounce, driven by U.S. dollar weakness, rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, and expectations for two Federal Reserve rate cuts by the end of 2026.