GIFT Nifty began Friday’s trade on a positive note, opening at 25,948, up 0.29%. Market participants are watching global signals closely, including moves in Asian and US equities, along with trends in currencies and commodity prices.
Indian markets ended flat on December 18, with the BSE Sensex falling 78 points to 84,481 and the Nifty 50 closing marginally lower at 25,816, down 3 points.
Key global and domestic cues on December 19, 2025
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific markets are trading higher on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.56% and the Topix gaining 0.57%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.68%, while the Kosdaq added 0.53%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.52% in early trade.
US markets
US stock indices ended higher on December 18, with technology shares leading the gains. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.38% to close at 23,006.36, while the broader market index rose 0.79% to 6,774.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also finished in positive territory, adding 65.88 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 47,951.85.
Rupee
The rupee ended Thursday’s session at 90.24 per dollar. During the day, it recovered from lows seen earlier this week and touched an intraday high of 90.13 against the US dollar.
US dollar
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, was 0.02% up at 98.44 on Friday 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
Crude oil prices declined in early trade on Friday. US benchmark WTI slipped 0.21% to $55.87 a barrel, while Brent crude also edged lower, trading around $59.69 a barrel.
FII
Foreign institutional investors recorded net purchases of shares worth Rs 596 crore, while domestic institutional investors added equities worth Rs 2,700 crore to their portfolios. The figures are based on provisional exchange data for December 18.
Gold rate today
Gold prices in India edged slightly lower. On the MCX, February 5, 2026 gold futures were trading at Rs 1,34,478 per 10 grams in the latest update.
In the international market, gold was trading at $4,353 per ounce.
Top sectors in last trading session
Among sectoral moves, the capital market sector saw a rise of 3.51%, leading the gains for the day. This was followed by the transport sector, which moved up by 2.52%, while the non-ferrous metals sector also ended higher, gaining 1.79% during the session.
Best and worst performing business group in last trading session
Among business groups, the Anil Ambani Group saw its market value rise by 5.29%, while the Essar Group gained 2.52%. The Avantha Group also moved higher with an increase of 2.39%, and the Vedanta Group ended up 1.98%. On the other hand, the Nagarjuna Group saw a decline of 2.51%, while the Patodia Group slipped 3.55% during the session.