Market Wrap, Dec 1: Indices end flat as NIFTY50, SENSEX slip from record highs; auto stocks shine, Max Healthcare top loser

The Indian stock market ended slightly lower on Monday, December 1, with benchmark indices surrendering their record-high gains as investors turned cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy meeting. Sentiment was further weighed down by the rupee’s slide to an all-time low.

The Monetary Policy Committee meeting is scheduled from December 3 to 5, 2025. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra is scheduled to announce the decision of the rate-setting panel on December 5.

The continued foreign fund outflows also kept investors on the edge. After a brief pause in October, FPIs turned net sellers again, withdrawing ₹3,765 crore from Indian equities in November.

According to exchange data, on Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹3,795.72 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,148.48 crore on a net basis.

Fuelled by strong market demand for the American currency, the Indian rupee depreciated 8 paise to close at 89.53 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday.

Globally, Asian markets ended mixed on Monday as investors held on to hopes of US rate cuts, while the battered yen strengthened and Japanese government bond yields climbed to their highest level since 2008.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.57%, and South Korea's KOSPI was up 0.16%, while China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.65%, and Japan's Nikkei closed 1.96% lower.

Here are the key developments of Monday’s session that you need to know

As many as 3,222 stocks traded on the NSE on Monday. Out of this, only 1,384 advanced, and 1,728 declined, while 110 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of advances.

A total of 90 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 149 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 87 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 76 touched their lower circuit bands on Monday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹472 lakh crore at the end of the session.

The volatility index India VIX rose marginally by 0.06% to end at 11.63 levels.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.25% to close at 17,874.70, while the Nifty Midcap 100 ended almost flat at 61,043.40 after briefly scaling a record high.

Among sectors, Nifty Realty was the biggest loser ahead of the RBI policy announcement, slipping 1.02%. It was followed by declines in Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.51%), Nifty Pharma (-0.48%), Nifty Media (-0.23%), and Nifty FMCG (-0.17%).

On the contrary, Nifty Auto (0.79%), Nifty Metal (0.58%), Nifty IT (0.39%) and Nifty PSU Bank (0.25%) were the only gainers.

As many as 25 stocks on the NIFTY50 index declined on Monday, while 25 closed in green.

Max Healthcare was the biggest laggard, slumping 2.67%, followed by IndiGo (-2.19%), Bajaj Finance (-1.71%), Sun Pharma (-1.23%) and Adani Enterprises (-0.89%).

On the flip side, UltraTech Cement (3.56%), Tata Motors PV (1.88%), Maruti Suzuki (1.42%), Bharat Electronics (1.28%) and Eicher Motors (1.16%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.