The key equity indices traded in narrow range in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,750 level after hitting the day's low of 23,701.05 in mid-morning trade. Auto, PSU bank shares advanced while media, realty and metal stocks declined.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was advanced 17.44 points or 0.02% to 78,491.32. The Nifty 50 index added 24.25 points or 0.10% to 23,751.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.42% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.33%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,605 shares rose and 2,295 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (up 1.80%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)(up 1.58%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.57%), SBI Life Insurance Company (up 1.51%) and Tata Motors (up 1.30%) were major Nifty gainers.

Asian Paints (down 0.75%), Grasim Industries (down 0.70%), Tata Consumer Products (down 0.55%), HDFC Bank (down 0.46%) and JSW Steel (down 0.42%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ola Electric Mobility rose 0.62%. The company said that it has expanded its network to 4,000 stores nationwide, registering a four-fold increase from the existing network.

Ramky Infrastructure advanced 2.25% after the company received a letter of acceptance from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) for maintaining sewage treatment plant (STP). The said order is valued at approximately Rs 215.08 crore.

Capital India Finance rose 1.24%. The company’s board has approved sub-division of 1 equity share of face value of Rs 10 into 5 equity shares having face value of Rs 2, subject to approval of members of the company.

Garware Technical Fibres rallied 4.43% after the company has received in-principle approval letter from National Stock exchange (NSE) for bonus issue in the ratio of 4:1.

Godfrey Phillips India jumped 6.95% after the company announced that its nomination and remuneration committee has approved the appointment of Siddharth Chawla as chief operating officer (COO).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) rose 0.62% after the company announced its participation in NTPC’s tender for the selection of solar power generators to establish 1200 MW ISTS-connected solar PV power projects across India.

Ceigall India jumped 3.28% after the company’s subsidiary, Ceigall Ludhiana Bathinda Greenfield Highway Private has executed concession agreement with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to develop highway in Punjab.

Gland Pharma advanced 0.90%. The company said that the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM), France, has issued 10 observations to Cenexi’s facility post an inspection conducted this month.

Global Markets:

European market remained close today on account of Boxing Day.

Asia-Pacific stocks advanced on Thursday, investors closely tracked the developments in the Japanese economy after media reports stated that the country was preparing a record $735 billion budget for its fiscal year starting in April. The budget will account for increased social security and debt-servicing expenses, the report said.

On Wednesday, Bank of Japan’s Governor Kazuo Ueda reportedly said: “Japan’s economy will move closer to sustainable and stable 2 percent inflation [in 2025], accompanied by wage increases.”

Traders in Asia will be looking at November manufacturing output data coming out of Singapore later in the day.

The Chinese government said on Wednesday that efforts to stabilize and stem the declines of the country’s real estate market will persist in 2025. The measures will include controlling the supply of commercial housing to optimize supply.

In the US, stocks jumped Tuesday on Christmas Eve as the market pulled off back-to-back gains in the holiday week.

The S&P 500 added 1.1% to 6,040.04, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 390.08 points, or 0.91%, to 43,297.03. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.35% to 20,031.13. Tuesday marked the start of the seasonal Santa Claus rally, which happens in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January.

With two straight winning days, the S&P 500 is up 1.8% this week, while the Dow has gained about 1%. The strong rally in megacap tech lifted the Nasdaq up 2.3% week to date.