NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on December 23

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Tuesday, December 23, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad rose 57 points to 26,255 amid positive cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a second straight session on Monday, December 22, led by gains in index heavyweights like Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Trent and Maruti Suzuki. The SENSEX rose as much as 672 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 26,180 amid positive cues from other Asian markets.

The SENSEX climbed 638 points to close at 85,567 and NIFTY50 index advanced 206 points to settle at 26,172.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading higher for a second straight session on Tuesday following overnight gains on the Wall Street. Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.22%, South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.45% and Thailand's SET rose 1.4%.

Wall Street update

US stocks closed higher to kick off the holiday-shortened trading week on Monday, buoyed partly by a continued rebound by technology stocks in a broad advance that saw gains among almost all of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, news agency Reuters reported.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.47%, S&P 500 advanced 0.64% and tech heavy Nasdaq climbed 0.52%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹457.34 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹4,058 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹12,017 crore and for the calendar year they have been net sellers to the tune of ₹1,55,692 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to Watch

The post-merger of the subsidiaries – ACC Ltd, Orient Cement, Penna Cement, and Sanghi Industries – "will become an integral part of Ambuja" with a capacity of 107 million tonnes per annum.

The board of Ambuja Cements Ltd (ACL) on Monday approved the scheme of amalgamation of merging ACC and Orient Cement.

UltraTech Cement and other cement stocks will also be in focus following the merger news.

Adani Transmission Step-One holds a 100% equity stake in the newly incorporated ATSOL Global, the company said in a regulatory filing dated Monday.

It added that Adani Transmission Step-One subscribed to 50,000 equity shares with a face value of ₹10 each in ATSOL Global via cash consideration.

ATSOL Global, incorporated in Gift City, Gujarat, will carry out the activities of the Global Treasury Centre, as permitted under the IFSCA (Finance Company) Regulations, 2021, the filing stated.

The acquired land parcel offers a development potential of approximately 5 million square feet, with an estimated top-line revenue potential of over ₹5,000 crore. The site is proposed to be developed into a large-format project in line with Prestige Group’s focus on scale and planning efficiency.

Medavakkam is a rapidly developing residential micro-market in Chennai, benefiting from proximity to the OMR IT corridor, improved road infrastructure, and upcoming metro connectivity. The area offers a balanced mix of accessibility, affordability, and growing social infrastructure, supporting sustained residential demand.

The reason for the leakage in the pipeline is yet to be ascertained. The leakage was swiftly brought under control. The emergency procedures worked as designed, it added.

The total capex aggregating to ₹67 crore will be reimbursed by the Thane Municipal Corporation on achievement of milestones as stipulated in the tender.

The state saw a rise of 4.5% in liquor sales from April 1 to December 17 during the ongoing 2025-26 financial year.

“Officials informed the Chief Minister that out of an excise revenue target of ₹8,000 crore between October 2024 and 2025, ₹7,041 crore has been realised,” said an official press release.

Abbar Global Opportunities Holdings Limited (AGOHL) is a special purpose vehicle owned by Mohamed Ali Rashed Alabbar, founder of Emmar Properties -- the developer of projects such as Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall.

The new portal enables users to close or exit their open trading positions even if the main Groww app or website is temporarily inaccessible during an outage, the stockbroking platform said in a statement.

The launch comes in the wake of recent large-scale internet disruptions, including a Cloudflare-related outage that impacted access to multiple digital services.

Gold prices rose to a fresh lifetime high of ₹138,200 per 10 grams, gaining ₹1,685, in the national capital on Monday following the precious metal scaling record highs in the global markets, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

Silver prices also raced to hit an all-time high of ₹2,14,500 per kilogramme (inclusive of all taxes) in the capital, up by ₹10,400 per kg.

Expiry day trade setup

The cues for Tuesday remain positive, with overnight gains by the US markets and a positive start by the Asian markets on Tuesday morning. The GIFT NIFTY futures traded 51 points higher at 7:30 am, indicating a positive start for NIFTY50 on the expiry day.

On the technical front, the NIFTY50 closed above the short-term average of the 20 SMA of 26,000, indicating a reversal in momentum in the NIFTY50. Experts believe a weekly closing above the previous 26,200 resistance could lead the way for new record high levels above 26,300.

On the options data front, the 26,200 calls hold the highest open interest for today’s expiry, indicating a near-term resistance for NIFTY50. Similarly, 26,100 puts hold the highest open interest, indicating a near-term support for the index.