Market snaps four-day losing streak, Sensex gains 546 points; Nifty crosses 26,100 on broad-based buying

The equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended the session higher on Wednesday (December 31), snapping a four-day losing streak and closing 2025 on a positive note amid broad-based gains across sectors. The Sensex rose 546 points to settle at 85,221, while the Nifty advanced 191 points to end at 26,130, crossing the 26,100 mark during the session.Buying interest was seen across heavyweight stocks, with Reliance Industries and banking majors lending support to frontline indices. The Nifty Bank index climbed 411 points to 59,582, while the Midcap index gained 570 points to close at 60,485, indicating wider market participation. Market breadth remained positive, with the advance-decline ratio at 2:1.

From the Sensex basket, JSW Steel Ltd, Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, Titan Company Ltd, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd were the major gainers. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Infosys Ltd and Bajaj Finance Ltd

were the biggest laggards.
Steel stocks witnessed strong buying after the government announced a safeguard duty for three years. JSW Steel and Tata Steel emerged as the top Nifty gainers, rising in the range of 2% to 5%.
Oil and gas stocks also recorded a sharp upmove, with ONGC rising 3% and Reliance Industries gaining 2%. Shares of oil marketing companies moved sharply higher, with IOC, BPCL and HPCL advancing between 3% and 6%.Auto stocks moved higher on expectations of healthy December sales. In contrast, IT stocks largely underperformed in an otherwise strong session, with TCS and Tech Mahindra among the top losers on the Nifty.

Vodafone Idea fell sharply after the Cabinet approved the restructuring of AGR dues. Hindustan Zinc ended 2% lower, tracking a fall in silver prices, and closed down by the same margin.

Swiggy entered the futures and options segment and ended its first day in the derivatives market with losses of nearly 2%. PB Fintech extended its losses as the insurance regulator IRDAI is set to release a draft paper on commissions.

Among individual stocks, L&T Finance closed with gains of over 3% ahead of its quarterly updates, while Wockhardt surged 6% after the European Union granted accelerated assessment to WCK 5222.