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Trendlyne Marketwatch
18 Dec 2025, 04:19PM
Market closes flat as gains in financials & IT stocks offset losses in other sectors
By Trendlyne Analysis

 

 

Nifty 50 closed at 25,815.55 (-3, 0.0%), BSE Sensex closed at 84,481.81 (-77.8, -0.1%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 23,491.50 (-4.6, 0.0%). Market breadth is in the red. Of the 2,591 stocks traded today, 954 were on the uptrend, and 1,590 went down.

Indian indices closed flat after switching between gains and losses throughout the day, as gains in financials and IT stocks offset losses in other sectors. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, closed 0.1% lower at 9.8 points. Ola Electric plunged to its 52-week low of Rs 30.8 as its founder & promoter, Bhavish Aggarwal, sold an additional 4.2 crore shares worth Rs 142 crore through a bulk deal.

Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 closed higher. Nifty Capital Markets and Nifty IT were among the best-performing indices of the day. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, Software & Services emerged as the highest-performing sector of the day, with a rise of 1.2%.

European indices are trading higher or flat. Major Asian indices closed with varied trends. US index futures are trading in the green, signalling a positive start to the session as investors await the US inflation data later today.

  • Money flow index (MFI) indicates that stocks like United Breweries, NCC, ACC and Honeywell Automation are in the oversold zone.

  • Nippon Life India Asset Management rises sharply after SEBI lowers mutual fund expense ratio limits and simplifies cost disclosure rules. The revised framework excludes taxes and regulatory charges from base expenses, enhancing transparency for retail investors across multiple mutual fund categories.

  • Aurobindo Pharma receives Form 483 with five observations from the US FDA following an inspection at its subsidiary, APL Healthcare's Unit-IV facility in Andhra Pradesh.

  • One97 Communications (Paytm) is rising as its subsidiary, Paytm Payments Services, receives approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator for offline payments and cross-border transactions.

  • Nikhil Nanda, CMD of Escorts Kubota, says the company is diversifying beyond tractors through aggressive product launches, capacity expansion, and exports to more than 100 countries. With GST reforms boosting demand and mechanisation at just 47% versus ~90% in developed markets, he sees substantial headroom for growth. Escorts Kubota is positioning India as a global manufacturing hub, backed by advanced facilities and plans to introduce 8–10 new products over the next three years.

  • Alembic Pharmaceuticals receives approval from the US FDA for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Travoprost Ophthalmic Solution. The drug is a therapeutic equivalent of Sandoz's reference listed drug (RLD), Travatan Z Ophthalmic Solution. It has an estimated annual market size of $61 million as of September 2025, according to IQVIA.

  • Patel Engineering is rising as it signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh to restore and develop the 144 MW Gongri Hydropower Project at a capex of Rs 1,700 crore.

  • Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on Astra Microwave Products with a 'Buy' call and a target price of Rs 1,100. This indicates a potential upside of 24.2%. The brokerage believes that the company is a long-term play in the defence electronics segment, with its revenue set to jump during FY27-30 as the Ministry of Defence awards larger orders. It expects the firm to deliver a revenue CAGR of 18% over FY26-28.

  • Nuvama downgrades SAIL to 'Reduce' with a lower target price of Rs 106. The brokerage raises concerns over excess flat steel supply in India and weak steel margins, weighing on earnings. It also flags rising debt from the upcoming 4.5-million-tonne-per-annum IISCO (Indian Iron & Steel Company) expansion, along with poor return ratios over the next three years.

  • Antony Waste Handling Cell surges as it secures two contracts worth Rs 1,330 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp (BMC). The contracts involve municipal waste collection and transportation services for the city, and will be executed through a consortium led by the company’s subsidiary, along with two transport partners.

  • Prism Johnson is rising as its board approves the sale of its office property in Mumbai to Windsor Realty for Rs 165.9 crore.

  • KP Green Engineering is rising as it signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Botswana to develop renewable energy infrastructure at a capex of $4 billion (~Rs 36,000 crore). The company will also establish energy storage and transmission infrastructure to increase the country's renewable energy capacity to 5 GW.

  • Axis Securities initiates coverage on TCS with a 'Buy' rating and a target price of Rs 3,565. The brokerage believes the tech giant’s strategic shift from a digital to an AI-led enterprise is a major growth opportunity. It highlights strong financial momentum, noting that the AI Services segment is generating annualised revenue of $1.5 billion, up 16.3% QoQ.

  • SG Finserv is rising as it receives approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to undertake factoring business.

  • Max Healthcare Institute is rising as it plans to acquire a 100% stake in Yerawada Properties, Pune, for about Rs 200 crore. The acquisition expands the company’s presence in Maharashtra and supports the planned development of a hospital with around 450 beds.

  • Astrazeneca Pharma receives approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to import and market Datopotamab Deruxtecan powder. The drug is used to treat adults with breast cancer.

  • Hero MotoCorp declines as Jefferies downgrades the stock to an 'Underperform' rating with a lower target price of Rs 4,950. The brokerage notes that the company’s domestic two-wheeler market share fell to a 25-year low of 28% during April–November, due to a shift away from entry-level bikes and losses in the 110–125 cc segment. It cuts FY26–28 EPS estimates by 2–7% on weaker volumes, though it still expects a 5% increase in production volumes.

  • GMR Power & Urban Infra's board of directors approves raising Rs 800 crore through the preferential issue of 6.6 crore shares at an issue price of Rs 120.9 per share.

  • Ola Electric plunges to its 52-week low of Rs 31.4 as its founder & promoter, Bhavish Aggarwal, sells an additional 4.2 crore shares worth Rs 142 crore at an average price of Rs 34 per share through a bulk deal.

  • Multi Commodity Exchange's board of directors approves a 1:5 stock split and sets the record date as January 2.

  • Citi maintains a 'Buy' rating on 360 One Wam with a target price of Rs 1,615. The brokerage highlights healthy wealth segment inflows, driven by strong primary market sentiment and slower monetisation. It notes rising AMC flows, potential institutional mandate wins, and continued focus on product innovation. Citi also expects access to UBS clients and new product launches from Q1 FY27.

  • MTAR Technologies receives an order worth Rs 310 crore from Megha Engineering & Infrastructures to supply equipment for Kaiga 5 and Kaiga 6 civil nuclear reactors.

  • Cyient's subsidiary, Cyient Semiconductors, acquires a 60% stake in Kinetic Technologies for $93 million (~Rs 841 crore).

  • Syrma SGS Technology acquires a 60% stake in Elcome Integrated Systems for about Rs 235 crore to strengthen its market position through investments in complementary businesses.

  • Titagarh Rail Systems is rising as it receives an order worth Rs 273.2 crore from the Ministry of Railways for the design, manufacture, supply, testing, and commissioning of a rail-borne maintenance vehicle. The order also includes training for Indian Railways personnel, along with servicing and breakdown maintenance support.

  • Nifty 50 was trading at 25,782.65 (-35.9, -0.1%), BSE Sensex was trading at 84,518.33 (-41.3, -0.1%), while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 23,452.65 (-43.4, -0.2%).

  • Market breadth is in the red. Of the 2,052 stocks traded today, 678 were gainers and 1,306 were losers.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. (2,722.90, 7.2%), PB Fintech Ltd. (1,835, 4.0%) and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. (365.15, 3.8%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Hitachi Energy India Ltd. (18,160, -5.2%), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (161.75, -3.8%) and Cummins India Ltd. (4,385.40, -2.8%).

Volume Shockers

17 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.

Top high volume gainers on BSE included HBL Engineering Ltd. (818.85, 7.4%), HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. (2,722.90, 7.2%) and Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd. (915.65, 5.9%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Westlife Foodworld Ltd. (522, -2.1%), Jindal Steel Ltd. (986, -1.6%) and Sapphire Foods India Ltd. (225.16, -1.4%).

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. (255.65, 2.6%) was trading at 10.8 times of weekly average. Life Insurance Corporation of India (847.40, 0.3%) and Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd. (7,308, 1.9%) were trading with volumes 5.0 and 5.0 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

10 stocks overperformed with 52 week highs, while 31 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52 week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Ashok Leyland Ltd. (171.57, 3.3%), Can Fin Homes Ltd. (923.45, -0.1%) and Federal Bank Ltd. (265.40, 0.7%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - ACC Ltd. (1,754.90, -0.2%) and BASF India Ltd. (3,815.20, -0.4%).

4 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. (867.70, 4.1%) and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (3,280.80, 2.0%). 22 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Kalpataru Projects International Ltd. (1,120.20, -3.5%) and JSW Holdings Ltd. (19,850, -2.9%).

 
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