The Indian stock market stayed volatile during Tuesday’s session, December 23, amid a lack of fresh triggers and profit booking in select stocks following a two-day solid rally, causing the key indices to remain largely unchanged.
The Nifty 50 wrapped up the session with a marginal decline of 0.02% to close at 26,166, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended nearly flat at 85,517. The broader markets closed mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index ending flat, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.34%.
Over the last two sessions, the Nifty has gained 1.4%, while the BSE Sensex has advanced 1.3%.
The tech pack came under profit booking today after Nifty IT recorded its best single day jump on Monday, rallying 2%. Seven of the ten constituents of the index closed lower, led by Coforge, which fell 5%, while Infosys and Persistent Systems were also top losers, declining 1.4% and 1.1%, respectively.
The index emerged as the worst performer, falling 0.85%, while PSU Bank, pharma, and realty stocks witnessed a healthy correction. On the upside, Nifty Media rallied 0.67%, followed by Nifty Chemicals and Nifty Metal, which surged 0.54% and 0.53%, respectively.
Meanwhile, India’s 10-year bond yields touched a nine-month high of 6.7% as traders pared expectations of further interest-rate cuts, while concerns over a potentially large supply of state debt in the coming months dampened appetite.
Railway stocks remain in focus
Despite heightened volatility in the broader Indian stock market, railway and related stocks extended their winning run, emerging as top gainers among Nifty 500 constituents. After surging 19% earlier, Jupiter Wagons shares rose another 8% to ₹335, taking their month-to-date gain to 17.53%.
Other railway-linked stocks, including Ircon International, RailTel Corporation of India, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Ramkrishna Forgings, and Rail Vikas Nigam, also posted strong gains, rising between 3% and 8%.
