Ahead of Market: 10 things that will decide stock market action on Friday

The Indian market ended largely unchanged on Thursday, as the Sensex and Nifty struggled for direction after three consecutive sessions of losses, paring early declines as gains in IT and financial stocks helped steady the market.

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 78 points, or 0.09%, to close at 84,481.81, while the NSE Nifty 50 edged down 3 points, or 0.01%, to 25,815.55.

Here’s how analysts read the market pulse:

Domestic equities navigated a volatile session amid subdued global cues, with large-cap stocks lagging behind mid-cap and small-cap counterparts, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, adding that after three consecutive declines, early gains were supported by value buying and a rupee recovery aided by central bank intervention. “However, lingering uncertainty over a potential U.S.–India trade deal dampened sentiment, prompting profit-booking later in the day. Sector-wise, IT and financial services attracted investor interest, while auto, oil & gas, chemicals, and pharma witnessed notable weakness. Looking ahead, markets will focus on U.S. core inflation and jobless claims data, alongside interest rate decisions from the BoE, ECB, and Bank of Japan, for clearer directional cues,” said Nair.

Also read | 5 Wall Street moguls who dismissed Bitcoin as a fad — Guess what they’re saying now!

US markets

Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Thursday as a soft inflation reading kept alive chances of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, while chipmaker Micron’s blowout forecast assuaged some worries about tech sector valuations.
U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected in the year to November, while the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish month-to-month CPI changes after the 43-day shutdown of the government prevented the collection of October data.
Concerns lingered that the data could be distorted, similar to the official jobs report that was released earlier this week. A jobless claims report showed new applications fell last week, reversing the prior week’s surge and suggesting labor market conditions remained stable in December.

European Markets

European shares rose on Thursday as lower-than-expected U.S. inflation strengthened hopes for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2026 and the European Central Bank took a more positive view of the economy after keeping rates on hold.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5% at 582.86 as of 1421 GMT. Major regional bourses were broadly higher, with Germany’s DAX up 0.5%.

In a widely expected move, the ECB kept interest rates steady and took a more positive view on a euro zone economy that has shown resilience to global trade shocks, likely cementing investor expectations of unchanged interest rates.

Tech View

The Nifty remains weak as the index failed to reclaim the 200-DMA on the hourly chart, with bears continuing to drag Indian equities lower, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, adding that the formation of continuous lower tops further reinforces the bearish outlook.

“The momentum indicator RSI is in a bearish crossover and is also forming lower tops, indicating weakening momentum. The trend continues to remain weak, with the 25,700 level appearing vulnerable to a breakdown. A decisive breach below 25,700 could trigger a swift next leg of correction. On the upside, resistance is placed around 25,900,” said De.

Also read | Warren Buffett’s biggest investment isn’t Apple, BofA or Coca-Cola — it’s a stock hidden in plain sight

Most active stocks in terms of turnover

Swiggy (Rs 2,805 crore), InterGlobe Aviation (Rs 2,158), HDFC Bank (Rs 1,464 crore), BSE (Rs 1,204 crore), Hindustan Copper (Rs 1,125 crore), Shriram Finance (Rs 1,087 crore) and Infosys (Rs 1,068 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.

Most active stocks in volume terms

Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 88.94 crore), Ola Electric Mobility (Traded shares: 18.54 crore), Reliance Power (Traded shares: 15 crore), Swiggy (Traded shares: 6.86 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 4.54 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 3.73 crore) and Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 3.08 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on NSE.

Stocks showing buying interest

Shares of HBL Power, HDFC AMC, Reliance Power, Nippon Life AMC, Hindustan Copper, Reliance Infrastructure and Motilal Oswal were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.

Also read | Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles hits top gear on debut post demerger. Here are 7 takeaways from the listing

52 Week high

Over 95 stocks hit their 52-week highs today while 276 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Hindustan Zinc and Tata Motors CV.

Stocks seeing selling pressure

Stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were ABB Power, Ola Electric Mobility, Siemens Energy India, Indian Oil Corp, Ramkrishna Forgings, Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands and GE Vernova T&D India.

Sentiment meter bearish

The market sentiments were bearish. Out of the 4,332 stocks that traded on the BSE on Thursday, 2,509 stocks witnessed declines, 1,629 saw advances, while 194 stocks remained unchanged.

Also read | Ola Electric vs Ather Energy shares: Which EV bet looks stronger for your portfolio right now?

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)