Domestic equity benchmarks closed lower on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty giving up early gains as muted year-end trading volumes and sustained foreign fund outflows curbed risk appetite. Investors stayed cautious ahead of the upcoming Q3 corporate earnings season. The Nifty settled below the 25,950 mark after touching an intraday high of 26,106.80, weighed down by weakness in consumer durables and IT stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 345.91 points or 0.41% to 84,695.54. The Nifty 50 index lost 100.20 points or 0.38% to 25,942.10.

Adani Ports & SEZ (down 2.27%), Reliance Industries (down 0.8%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.5%) were major drags today.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.45% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.58%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,568 shares rose and 2,748 shares fell. A total of 205 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 6.7% year-on-year in November, accelerating from the upwardly revised 0.5% increase in the previous month. Growth was noted in manufacturing (8% vs 2% in October) on higher output of basic and fabricated metal products, pharmaceuticals, and motor vehicles. Growth was also sharp for mining (5.4% vs -1.8%) as the closure of the monsoon season supported operations.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.11% to 6.567 as compared with the previous close of 6.560.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 89.9850 compared with its close of 89.9000 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2026 settlement fell 0.98% to Rs 138,507.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.01% to 98.03.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.56% to 4.108.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2025 settlement added $1.24 or 2.04% to $61.88 a barrel.

Prices of spot silver rose to a fresh record high of above $80 per ounce before pulling back sharply to $77. Silver's recent surge was driven by speculative buying and lingering supply tightness, said experts. Media report further stated silver's rally this year reflects a depletion of freely traded inventory, amplifying price moves as demand increases.

Global Markets:

European market advanced, while most Asian market ended mixed on Monday as investors kicked off the final trading week of the year.

On Friday stateside, the S&P 500 reached a new high and posted weekly gains as traders came back from the Christmas holiday.

The broad market index closed down 0.03% to end at 6,929.94. At its high, the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, reaching 6,945.77. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.09% and closed at 23,593.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.19 points, or 0.04%, and settled at 48,710.97.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.17%. The company announced that its transportation infrastructure business vertical has secured a significant order for Hyderabad Greenfield Radial Road.

Solarworld Energy Solutions climbed 5.64% after the company announced that it has received a letter of award for the EPC package for the development of a 250 MWac grid-connected solar PV project worth Rs 725.33 crore from NTPC Renewable Energy.

Coforge rose 0.55%. The company said that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Encora, an AI native firm born in the Silicon Valley with deep strengths across AI driven engineering underlaid by Cloud and Data.

Siyaram Recycling Industries added 1.55% after the company has secured a significant order from The Supreme Industries, Jalgaon (F) ' MDP, for the supply of 1/2 female insert (new modified) and female insert 1/2 CPVC/aqua topper.

Sigachi Industries fell 4.89% after the company disclosed that its managing director and chief executive officer Amit Raj Sinha has been remanded in connection with a fire incident at its Hyderabad unit.

Timex Group India fell 6.33% after the company's promoter announced an offer for sale to reduce its stake. Promoter Timex Group Luxury Watches BV is offering a base lot of 45.09 lakh shares, representing 4.47% of the company's equity. The offer includes an oversubscription option for an additional 4.47%, taking the total potential divestment to 90.18 lakh shares, or 8.93%. The floor price has been set at Rs 275 per share, a discount of 21.82% to the stock's previous close of Rs 351.75 on 26 December 2025. The discounted pricing and large offer size weighed on investor sentiment.

Ceigall India gained 3.56% after the company's subsidiary, Ceigall Infra Projects has received a LoA from Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation for the construction of the Indore-Ujjain access-controlled four-lane greenfield highway.

Vikran Engineering rose 2.58% after it has secured letter of awards (LoA) from M.P. Urja Vikas Nigam for the implementation of power plants with a total capacity of 45.75 MW AC in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.

Jindal Steel rose 0.50%. The company announced a significant expansion of its structural steel manufacturing capabilities at its Raigarh facility. This expansion would double the company's existing structural steel capacity from 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 2.4 MTPA by mid 2028.

VA Tech Wabag declined 1.62%. The company has received a letter of award from the Saudi Water Authority for a large repeat EPC order to build a 50 MLD advanced BWRO plant at Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.

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