Market Wrap, Dec 3: NIFTY50 ends at 25,986, SENSEX falls 31 points as rupee surpasses ₹90/$; SMIDs underperform, Max Healthcare top loser

The Indian stock market closed marginally lower after a volatile session on Wednesday, December 3, as PSU banking and consumer stocks dragged. The weakening rupee and continued foreign fund outflows also weighed on investor sentiment.

Continuing its slide against the greenback, the Indian rupee hit a fresh record low of 90.14 against the US dollar on Wednesday. Further, investors remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s December monetary policy rate decision.

According to exchange data, on Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹3,642.30 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹4,645.94 crore on a net basis.

Globally, most of the indices in Asia were mixed on Wednesday as investors wait for fresh triggers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 1.38%, and China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.51%, while South Korea's KOSPI was up 1.02%, and Japan's Nikkei also closed 1.39% higher.

Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday on hopes that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates later this month. US stocks advanced to record their sixth gain in seven sessions in muted trading on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in technology shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.25%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.59%.

Here are the key developments of Wednesday's session that you need to know

As many as 3,213 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 1,052 advanced and 2,074 stocks declined, while 87 scrips remained unchanged.

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

A total of 26 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 223 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 51 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 80 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms stood at ₹467.38 lakh crore at the close of the session, losing ₹2.82 lakh crore.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.21 levels, falling 0.13%.

The broader market, meanwhile, underperformed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 slumping 0.98% to close at 60,315.65, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 0.71% to end at 17,649.45.

Dragged by Indian Bank (-5.52%), Punjab National Bank (-4.31%) and Canara Bank (-3.77%), Nifty PSU Bank was the biggest loser, tanking 3.07% among sectors. Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.57%), Nifty Auto (-1.2%), Nifty FMCG (-0.8%) and Nifty Realty (-0.75%) were the other top losers.

However, Nifty IT (0.76%), Nifty Private (0.57%), Nifty Media (0.25%) and Nifty Pharma (0.01%) were the only gainers.

On the NIFTY50 index, 13 stocks closed higher, and 37 declined by the end of the session.

Max Healthcare was the biggest laggard, declining 2.91%, followed by Tata Consumer Products (-2.25%), Adani Enterprises (-2.14%), Bharat Electronics (-2.03%) and Shriram Finance (1.83%).

On the flip side, Wipro (1.61%), Hindalco Industries (1.46%), TCS (1.41%), ICICI Bank (1.38%) and HDFC Bank (1.04%) were the top gaining stocks on the 50-share index.