Sensex Falls Over 500 Points, Nifty 50 Holds 26,000 Amid Weekly F&O Expiry, Dragged By Banking Stocks

Equity benchmarks ended lower by over half a percentage point on December 2, 2025, amid weekly futures and options expiry, dragged by index heavyweights. After a weak start, both the Sensex and the Nifty 50 slipped lower during the session and settled near their intra-day lows. At close, the Sensex was at 85,138.27, down 503.63 points, or 0.59 per cent, while the Nifty 50 was at 26,032.20, down by 143.55 points, or 0.55 per cent. The broader market indices also mirrored the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 ending 0.22 per cent lower, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 closing 0.55 per cent in the negative territory. The Nifty 500 index slipped 0.42 per cent, while the Nifty Microcap 250 index, logged a decline of 0.58 per cent. Why Stock Market Fell Today Weak industrial production data and a weaker rupee dented the investor sentiment. Investors were also cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s and the Reserve bank of India's (RBI) policy announcements scheduled later this week. India’s industrial production grew by just 0.4 per cent in October, the slowest in 14 months, indicating a sharp slowdown in the economy. This was well below the 4 per cent growth seen in September. The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) attributed the weak figures to fewer working days in October due to festivals like Dussehera and Diwali. The rupee started the day on a weaker note at 89.54 against the dollar and soon slipped to a fresh record low of 90.04. Financial Services, Banks Emerge Top Losers Among sectoral indices, all other major indices, barring pharma, closed in the red. The Nifty Pharma closed with marginal gains of 0.08 per cent. The Nifty Financial Services fell the most, registering a fall of 0.90 per cent. Following it, the Nifty Bank, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Chemicals also slipped 0.68 per cent, 0.69 per cent, and 0.75 per cent, respectively. Nifty IT, however, closed flat, though slightly in the negative territory. Nifty 50: Top Gainers & Losers Asian Paints rose 3.15 per cent, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories advanced 1.30 per cent, emerging as the top gainers of the day. Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, SBI Life Insurance, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, and NTPC were also among the top gainers in Nifty 50. On the other hand, InterGlobe Aviation, and index heavyweights ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank ended the day in red, falling more than 1 per cent each. Axis Bank, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Life Insurance, and Shriram Finance were also among the biggest losers. Stock Market Outlook The RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will start their meeting on December 3 and announce their decision on December 5. Market participants will be tracking any interest rate-related change closely. The uncertainty around the potential India-US trade deal is also weighing on equities. Market participants will be looking for further updates on the same. Further, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will be releasing non-farm payrolls data for October, on December 3, which will be a crucial data to gauge the US Federal Reserve’s policy direction. Market participants will also track the US Services PMI, and the US Non-Manufacturing PMI data due on the same date.