NIFTY50, SENSEX today: Wall Street cues, FII activity, key things to know before markets open on December 30

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Tuesday, December 30, as indicated by GIFT NIFTY futures. NIFTY futures at GIFT City in Ahmedabad fell 0.12% or 30 points to 25,927 amid weak cues from Asian markets.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell for a third straight session on Monday, December 29, dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services. The SENSEX fell as much as 404 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,920.

The SENSEX ended 346 points lower at 84,696 and NIFTY50 index declined 100 points to close at 25,942.

Asian markets

Asian markets snapped their seven-day winning streak following technology-led selloff on Wall Street overnight.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.11%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.22% and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 0.15%.

Wall Street update

Wall Street's ended lower on Monday, kicking off the final week of the year on a softer note, as heavyweight technology stocks retreated from last week's gains that had pushed the S&P 500 to record highs, news agency Reuters reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51%, S&P %00 index dropped 0.35% and tech heavy Nasdaq index plunged 0.5%.

FII/DII activity

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹2,760 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹2,644 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹16,407 crore and for the calendar year they have been net sellers to the tune of ₹1,60,082 crore, according to the data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

Stocks to watch

The government made the claim during its submissions before a three-member arbitration tribunal that on November 7 concluded hearings on the 14-year-old dispute. The tribunal is expected to give its award sometime next year and the party that loses will most likely challenge it before the Supreme Court, three sources aware of the matter said.

Sources said the government in the arbitration proceedings sought monetary value of the natural gas that wasn't produced as well as a compensation for excess amount spent on installations, fuel marketing, and interest.

It put the value for all of this at over $30 billion.

In a statement, Reliance said, "There is no claim of $30 billion against Reliance and BP" and it was "factually incorrect" to state that the government has sought $30 billion from it and its partner for underproduction from the KG-D6 gas field.

In an exchange filing, the company said its board has accepted his resignation and approved the appointment of Jignesh Rathod as the next CEO.

"We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held today...took note of the Resignation tendered by Amit Paithankar (Whole Time Director & Chief Executive Officer) of the company to pursue opportunities outside the organization." The Board accepted the resignation and agreed to relieve him w.e.f 15.05.2026 or such earlier date as may be mutually agreed.

The Board placed on record its deep appreciation for Paithankar's leadership, commitment, and valuable contributions during his tenure, during which the Company strengthened its operational capabilities, expanded its footprint, and built a robust foundation for long-term growth, the filing stated.

A lack of adequate planning in implementing the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, which permit a lesser number of night landings for a pilot, has been attributed as a key reason for the disruptions that have forced the airline to cancel more than 1,600 flights on a single day.

Against the backdrop of new norms necessitating the deployment of more pilots for night operations, IndiGo has revised higher allowances doled out to the pilots.

The hikes, ranging from as little as ₹25 to ₹2,000, will be for various allowance categories, including domestic layover, deadhead and night. Also, pilots will be eligible for tail-swap allowance, sources said.

According to the bulk deal data available on the stock exchanges, SBI Mutual Fund (MF) offloaded 45.09 lakh shares of Nazara Technologies on the NSE, while it sold 45 lakh scrips, amounting to a combined 2.43 per cent stake in the gaming and e-sports company.

The shares were disposed of in the price range of ₹240.03-240.18 apiece, taking the transaction value to ₹216.32 crore.

After the latest transaction, SBI MF's holding in Nazara Technologies has come down to 3.35% from 5.78%.

In the trend and progress in banking report for FY25, which comes amid a raft of measures impacting the industry in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the RBI also said disbursements were lower in southern states in the fiscal year.

Noting that a slew of measures have been taken by the industry to improve its performance, the report said, "Going ahead, regulated entities need to monitor the build-up of stress in the segment.

Over the last few quarters, lenders have faced challenges on the MFI front, stemming from over-leverage among borrowers, which led to the industry coming together and adopting a set of guardrails, including limiting the number of loans that can be given to a single borrower.

The Mumbai-based drug maker said the agreement strengthens the company's diabetes portfolio and accelerates its presence in the obesity segment.

Bofanglutide injection is a once in two weeks GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Gan & Lee, intended for treating adults with type 2 diabetes and aiding weight management in overweight or obese individuals.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lupin will have exclusive rights to commercialise and distribute Bofanglutide in India, as per a regulatory filing.

IPO market update

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given its nod to four companies to raise funds via initial public offerings. They include Knack Packaging, Shivalaya Construction, Varmora Granito and Behari Lal Engineering.

These companies, which had filed their draft papers between August and September, are collectively looking to raise over ₹1,400 crore through IPOs. They received SEBI's observation during December 15-26.

In SEBI's parlance, receipt of observations means an approval to launch their initial share sale.

All four IPOs will be a combination of fresh issuance of equity shares as well as an offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders.