Snapping the two-day rally, Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Friday mainly due to weak global trends and fading hopes of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in December. Market sentiment was further undermined by a soft manufacturing flash PMI reading, a weakening rupee and growing worries over potential delays in India–US trade discussions. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

India's private sector activity expands at slowest pace in six months in November: S&P Global showed the HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index, which measures the combined performance of India’s manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 59.9 in November from 60.4 in October, marking a six-month low. 

Output of eight key infrastructure sectors remains flat in October: The output of eight key infrastructure sectors remained flat in October 2025 on a year-on-year basis, as expansion in output of petroleum refinery products, fertiliser and steel was offset by a contraction in coal and electricity production.

India's farm sector can maintain 4% growth rate over next 10 years: Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that India's agriculture sector can easily maintain a 4 per cent growth rate over the next 10 years, and the country needs to enhance its warehouse infrastructure. 

Rupee hits record low: Indian rupee saw the steepest single-day fall in over three months breaching 89-a-dollar-mark for the first time against the greenback, amid negative cues from domestic as well as global equity markets triggered by trade-related uncertainties.

Global front: European markets were trading lower as investors fretted about overvalued tech valuations and an uncertain path for U.S. monetary policy. Asian markets settled down as a brief Nvidia-led rally faded and mixed U.S. jobs data left markets uncertain whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 400.76 points or 0.47% to 85,231.92 and the CNX Nifty was down by 124.00 points or 0.47% to 26,068.15.  

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 85,609.40 and 85,187.84 respectively. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.30%, while Small cap index was down by 1.30%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 2.35%, Realty down by 1.89%, Capital Goods down by 1.79%, Basic Materials down by 1.46% and Industrials down by 1.43%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.17%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.80%, Tata Motors Passenger up by 0.69%, ITC up by 0.57% and Asian Paints up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.58%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.29%, HCL Technologies down by 2.25%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.01% and Eternal down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that India's agriculture sector can easily maintain a 4 per cent growth rate over the next 10 years, and the country needs to enhance its warehouse infrastructure. Chand said agricultural products' demand will grow at 2.5 per cent. India's agriculture sector recorded a growth rate of 3.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2025-26. He stated ‘But our agricultural products' demand is not rising at that rate. So, either use these products for industry or tap the export market. I feel tapping the export market is a much better option.’ It stated warehousing requirements for rice and wheat are not different, but in the case of maize, it is different.

He noted that regulations are important in influencing investment decisions in warehousing, if the law of the land is that people cannot store more than a certain quantity. He pointed out ‘After we did not succeed in implementing three farm laws, the need to invoke the Essential Commodities Act has now been lesser and lesser. He also said that contrary to public perception, food losses (agricultural commodities loss) are not high in India.

He pointed out ‘I shared that in the UN conference, that in milk, our loss is only 0.5 per cent, and that is the most perishable commodity anyway. Noting that a large component of the current food losses is preventable, he said that there is a big incentive for investment in warehouses, as the more you prevent the losses, the higher the incentive for making an investment in warehouses. He also emphasised that warehousing is needed to sustain buffer stocks, along with maintaining inter-year and intra-year price stability of food, as it constitutes a major portion of household consumption expenditure.

India has emerged as the world’s second-largest producer of agricultural commodities and the eighth-largest exporter, with food grain output touching a record 354 million tonnes in 2024-25. As production is set to rise to nearly 368 million tonnes by 2030-31, strengthening scientific storage and post-harvest systems is a necessity for safeguarding food security, boosting farmer incomes, and cutting avoidable losses.

CNX Nifty touched high and low of 26,179.20 and 26,052.20 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.32%, Tata Consumer Product up by 0.90%. Max Healthcare up by 0.87%, Interglobe Aviation up by 0.86% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.82%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.91%, Hindalco down by 2.81%, Tata Steel down by 2.59%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.29% and HCL Technologies down by 2.22% were the top losers.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 39.76 points or 0.42% to 9,487.89, France’s CAC fell 30.17 points or 0.38% to 7,950.90 and Germany’s DAX lost 221.85 points or 0.95% to 23,057.00.