Mumbai | December 31, 2025
Sensex, Nifty Rebound in Early Trade; Rupee Weakens Against Dollar
After several sessions of decline, Indian equity markets opened higher on Wednesday, the final trading day of 2025. Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty posted early gains, supported by sustained buying from domestic institutional investors, helping lift overall market sentiment.
However, despite the equity rebound, the Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar, reflecting continued pressure from foreign portfolio outflows and uncertainty in global trade dynamics.
Benchmark Indices Snapshot
The BSE Sensex snapped its five-day losing streak, rising 254.38 points in early trade to reach 84,929.46. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 climbed 89.15 points after four consecutive sessions of decline, trading around the 26,028 level.
Market participants attributed the recovery to year-end portfolio rebalancing and strong domestic institutional support, which helped offset selling pressure from foreign investors.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Tata Steel, Bharat Electronics, Titan, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, and Hindustan Unilever emerged as the top gainers, lending strength to the broader market.
On the downside, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Infosys were among the laggards. Profit-booking was visible in select IT and auto stocks during the opening session.
Institutional Investor Activity
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading shares worth ₹3,844.02 crore on Tuesday. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) stepped in with strong purchases totaling ₹6,159.81 crore, helping stabilize the market and drive the early recovery.
Global Markets and Crude Oil
Asian markets showed a mixed trend on Wednesday. South Korea’s KOSPI, China’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading lower. US markets had closed in negative territory overnight.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude slipped marginally by 0.10% to trade at $61.27 per barrel. Stable crude prices are expected to provide some relief on the inflation front for India.
Previous Session Recap
On Tuesday, the Sensex closed 20.46 points lower at 84,675.08, while the Nifty slipped 3.25 points to end at 25,938.85. Wednesday’s early gains helped ease some of the pressure built over the past five sessions.
Rupee Weakens in Forex Market
In the currency market, the rupee opened at 89.89 per dollar in the interbank forex market and weakened further to 89.90, down 15 paise from its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled 23 paise higher at 89.75 against the dollar.
Forex experts pointed to sustained foreign fund outflows as a key factor weighing on the local currency.
Anil Kumar Bhansali, Treasury Head and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said uncertainty in US–India trade relations persists. He noted that foreign investors have withdrawn nearly $16.5 billion from Indian equities this year, increasing importer demand for dollars while making exporters more cautious.
