Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty stayed on the back foot for the second straight session on Wednesday as investors offloaded energy and IT stocks amid a mixed trend in global markets.
A depreciating rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows added to the pressure, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 116.14 points, or 0.14 per cent, to settle at 85,408.70. During the day, it hit a high of 85,738.18 and a low of 85,342.19.
A total of 2,346 stocks declined while 1,841 advanced and 145 remained unchanged on the BSE.
The 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 35.05 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 26,142.10.
Trading volumes in the capital markets remained subdued amid the year-end holiday-shortened week.
From the 30-Sensex firms, InterGlobe Aviation, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were among the biggest laggards.
In contrast, Trent, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, and Power Grid were among the gainers.
The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.37 per cent, and the smallcap index dipped 0.14 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, oil & gas declined 0.76 per cent, followed by BSE Focused IT (0.68 per cent), services (0.64 per cent), energy (0.58 per cent) and IT (0.44 per cent).
On the other hand, BSE telecommunication, realty and metal were the gainers.Domestic equity markets will remain closed on Thursday for Christmas.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said it will purchase government securities worth Rs 2 lakh crore and conduct a USD 10 billion buy/sell dollar-rupee swap auction to inject liquidity in the banking system.
The OMO (Open Market Operations) purchase and swap auctions will be conducted between December 29, 2025 and January 22, 2026.