:::LALKAR GROUP::::

The key equity benchmarks continued to trade near flat line in mid-morning trade. Market participants are also closely tracking rupee movement, FII activity, ongoing IPO activity, and global cues. The Nifty traded above the 26,150 mark.

Oil & gas shares saw buying interest for third consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:25 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 21.85 points or 0.03% to 85,545.63. The Nifty 50 index advanced 9.30 points or 0.04% to 26,182.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.42%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,226 shares rose and 1,718 shares fell. A total of 229 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 1.8% (provisional) in November, 2025 as compared to the Index in November, 2024. The production of Cement, Steel, Fertilizer and Coal recorded positive growth in November, 2025.

Coal production rose 2.1% in November 2025 compared with November 2024. Crude oil output declined 3.2% year-on-year, while natural gas production fell 2.5% during the same period. Petroleum refinery production also slipped 0.9% in November 2025 over a year ago.

Steel production increased 6.1% year-on-year, cement output surged 14.5%, while electricity generation declined 2.2% in November 2025 compared with November 2024. Fertilizer production increased by 5.6% YoY in November 2025.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 2.22% to 9.46. The Nifty 30 December 2025 futures were trading at 26,216.10, at a premium of 34.1 points as compared with the spot at 26,182.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 December 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 71.4 lakh contracts at the 26,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 1.14 crore contracts was seen at 26,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index rose 0.27% to 12,081.70. The index rose 1.99% in the three consecutive trading sessions.

Oil India (up 1.66%), Petronet LNG (up 1.27%), Castrol India (up 1.15%), Gujarat State Petronet (up 1.1%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.03%), GAIL (India) (up 0.43%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 0.35%), Gujarat Gas (up 0.3%), Aegis Logistics (up 0.03%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.03%) surged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shakti Pumps India rose 2.96% after the company received a Letter of Empanelment/Award worth Rs 356.77 crore from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) for the supply of off-grid solar water pumping systems.

Biocon rose 0.10%. The company announced that its biosimilars arm and subsidiary, Biocon Biologics, has secured full and exclusive global rights for Hulio, a biosimilar of Adalimumab, from Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics Co (FKB).

GMR Power and Urban Infra rose 1.48% after its step-down subsidiary completed refinancing of its existing debt at a lower cost. The company said GMR Kamalanga Energy (GKEL) has refinanced its outstanding debt of Rs 2,700 crore through a senior loan facility of the same amount. The refinancing enabled the repayment of all existing lenders.