Market opening: SENSEX rises 36 pts, NIFTY50 at 25,775 as IT stocks gain on positive global cues; Shriram Finance top gainer

The Indian stock market opened in green on Thursday, December 11, tracking positive global cues and gains in IT and PSU bank stocks following the US Federal third rate cut in 2025. Further, investors were also hopeful amid the ongoing US-India trade talks.

The US Federal Reserve on Thursday had reduced its key interest rate by 25 points for the third consecutive meeting. This brings the lending rate in the range of 3.50% to 3.75%. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, however, hinted that the committee may leave the rates unchanged in the coming months.

The broader market was also seen in green in the early trade, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining 0.16% and 0.11%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty IT was the top gainer, rising 0.76%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank (0.59%) and Nifty Metal (0.47%). However, Nifty Media (-0.65%), Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.48%) and Nifty FMCG (-0.26%) were among the top losers.

On Wednesday, US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer had said that the US has received the "best" ever offers from India on the proposed trade agreement amid the commencement of two-day talks here between the two countries.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,651.06 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,752.31 crore on a net basis.

Globally, most of the Asian markets were trading higher following overnight gains on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.8%, and Singapore's Straits Times advanced 0.31%, while Japan's Nikkei declined 0.96%, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.36%, and the Shanghai Composite was trading 0.46% lower.

On Wall Street, the US stocks ended higher on Wednesday on the back of the US Fed’s widely expected 25-basis-point rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.05%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.67%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.33%.

As many as 2,688 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,098 advanced, 1,499 declined, and 91 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

Meanwhile, 17 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 43 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 31 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 23 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 10.79 levels, falling 1.14%.

Shriram Finance was the biggest contributor, surging 1.28%, followed by Eternal (1.27%), Tata Steel (1.13%), Adani Ports (0.85%) and Infosys (0.84%).

On the flip side, Titan Company (-0.97%), Power Grid (-0.85%), HDFC Life Insurance (-0.65%), Bharti Airtel (-0.36%) and IndiGo (-0.34%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-share index.