Indian Markets End Lower Amid Global Cues; Sebi Meeting Scheduled for December 17

The GIFT Nifty opened Wednesday’s session at 25,928, rising slightly by 0.05%. Investors are watching global cues, including trends in Asian and US markets, currency movements, and commodity prices, along with domestic economic indicators and upcoming data releases. On December 16, Indian benchmark indices ended lower. The Sensex fell 533.50 points, or 0.63%, to close at 84,679.86, while the Nifty 50 dropped 167.20 points, or 0.64%, to settle at 25,860.10. Key global and domestic cues on December 17, 2025 The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) board is set to meet on December 17, to consider a host of regulatory reforms. Among the major items up for discussion is SEBI’s proposal to exclude all statutory levies from the total expense ratio (TER) charged by mutual funds. A host of stock broker norms may also be looked into. Asia-Pacific markets showed mixed trends in Wednesday’s session. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14%, while the Topix fell 0.37%. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.5% and the Kosdaq gained 0.66%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, meanwhile, ended lower by 0.21%. US markets ended mixed, with the broader market index slipping 0.24% to close at 6,800.26. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.23% to finish at 23,111.46, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 302.30 points, or 0.62%, to end at 48,114.26. The Indian rupee continued to weaken on Tuesday (December 16). The currency slipped past the 91 level for the first time. This marked a fresh record low for the fourth session in a row. During the day, the rupee fell to 91.08 against the US dollar. It later recovered slightly to close at 91.03. The US Dollar Index (DXY) , which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was 0.02% down at 98.19 on Wednesday morning. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar in comparison to major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, etc. Crude oil prices traded mixed on Wednesday morning. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.46% to $55.73 a barrel, while Brent crude rose 0.76% to $59.37 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors sold Indian equities worth Rs 2,382 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors bought shares worth Rs 1,077 crore, as per exchange data on December 16. Gold prices in India edged higher. On the MCX, February 5, 2026 gold futures were trading at Rs 1,34,405 per 10 grams in the latest update. In the international market, gold was trading at $4,342.40 per ounce. Some sectoral stocks saw positive movement in today’s session. The plastics sector recorded a gain of 2.24%, emerging as one of the top performers. This was followed by the fertilisers sector , which rose 1.46%, while rubber stocks moved up 1.30%. The gems and jewellery sector also ended in the green, registering a gain of 1.16%. Group-wise movement was mixed in the session. The Patodia Group saw its market capitalisation rise by 4.34%, while the Anil Ambani Group gained 2.74%. Shares from the Williamson Magor Group also ended higher, up 2.30%. On the other hand, the Yash Birla Group saw a decline of 3.04%, the Indiabulls Group slipped 3.69%, and the Manipal Group recorded the sharpest fall among the lot, down 5.18%.