Opening Bell : Benchmarks likely to make cautious start ahead of monthly F&O expiry
Indian equity markets are likely to make a cautious start on Tuesday ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Besides, traders may remain on side-line amid persistent selling by foreign institutional investors, who offloaded equities worth Rs 2,759.89 crore on Monday’s session.
Some of the key factors to be watched:
India's export to Australia recording healthy growth; trade pact completes 3 years: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday that from January 1 next year, 100 per cent Australian product categories will be duty-free for Indian exports. He added that India's exports to Australia rose 8 per cent in 2024-25 with major gains witnessed across chemicals, textiles, plastics, pharma, petroleum products, and gems and jewellery sectors.
Robust growth in mining, manufacturing pushes India’s IIP to 2-year high of 6.7% in November: With robust growth in mining and manufacturing, India’s industrial output growth, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), jumped to two-year high of 6.7 per cent in November 2025 from 0.5 per cent in October 2025 and 5.0 per cent in November 2024.
Government to borrow Rs 3.84 lakh crore via short-term treasury bills in Q4: The government said that it plans to borrow Rs 3.84 lakh crore from short-term treasury bills spread over 12 weeks during the fourth quarter of the current financial year to meet short-term funding requirements.
Banks post robust performance in FY25; GNPA declines to multi-decadal low: The Reserve Bank of India report said that commercial banks maintained robust performance in 2024-25, with the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio declining to a multi-decadal low of 2.2 per cent at March-end.
Aviation industry stocks will be in focus: Ratings agency ICRA said the domestic aviation industry is estimated to post around Rs 17,000-18,000 crore net loss in the current fiscal year on account of a likely lower passenger traffic, among other factors.
On the global front: The US markets ended lower on Monday as Investors awaited for release of minutes of Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting in December for further cues on interest rate outlook. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, tracking cues from Wall Street overnight.
Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Monday due to selling in Utilities, Power and IT shares, along with foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 317.56 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Investors also remained cautious amid low trading activity towards the end of the year. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 345.91 points or 0.41% to 84,695.54 and the CNX Nifty was down by 100.20 points or 0.38% to 25,942.10.
Some of the important factors in trade:
India’s forex reserves rise to $693 Billion: The Reserve Bank data showed that India's forex reserves jumped by $4.368 billion to $693.318 billion during the week ended December 19.
India imposes anti-dumping duty on two Chinese products: India has imposed anti-dumping duty on two Chinese goods -- a refrigerant gas and certain kinds of steel products, during the month so far to guard domestic players from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.
Port industry stocks remain in watch: The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has notified the operational guidelines for two major shipbuilding initiatives--the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) and the Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS), with a total outlay of over Rs 44,700 crore.
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