Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended lower for the second straight session on Friday. Index made a negative start following broadly negative cues from other Asian markets. Soon, market extended its losses. Persistent foreign fund outflow dampened investors’ sentiments. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,721.26 crore on Wednesday. Besides, traders remained cautious as Indian IT industry body Nasscom in its report stated that the US move to replace the H-1B visa lottery with a 'wage-weighted' selection mechanism is a significant departure from a long-standing neutral system, and raises important legal, economic, and operational concerns. In afternoon session, market continued its southward journey and maintained it till the end of the session. Market participants overlooked think tank GTRI’s report stated that India's goods and services exports are likely to grow by 3 per cent to $850 billion in 2025-26. In 2024-25, the overall exports touched $825 billion ($438 billion in merchandise and $387 billion in services). Finally, Nifty ended below 26,050 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Consumer Durables and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, Media and Auto. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Rail Vikas Nigam, Indian Railway Finance Corporation and NBCC (India). On the other hand, the top losers were Nuvama Wealth Management, Coforge and HFCL. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 26100 - 26300 calls and 25900 - 26100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 0.43% and reached 9.15. The 50 share Nifty down by 99.80 point or 0.38% to settle at 26,042.30.

Nifty December 2025 futures closed at 26058.00 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 15.70 points over spot closing of 26042.30, while Nifty January 2026 futures ended at 26236.00 (LTP), at a premium of 193.70 points over spot closing. Nifty December futures saw an addition of 17,581 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,85,217 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on December 30, 2025. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank December 2025 futures traded at a discount of 0.60 points at 991.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 992.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 76,293. (Provisional)

Infosys December 2025 futures traded at a discount of 1.50 points at 1655.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1657.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 39,105. (Provisional)

Vedanta December 2025 futures traded at a discount of 1.20 points at 599.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 601.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 36,663. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries December 2025 futures traded at a discount of 2.00 points at 1558.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1560.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 36,374. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank December 2025 futures traded at a premium of 0.30 points at 1351.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1351.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,262. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26100 SP from the December month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1,62,441 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 26100 SP from the December month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 14,502 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26200 SP (2,63,516 units) and that for Puts was at 26000 SP (2,01,736 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 26121.47 -- Pivot Point 26065.03 -- Support 25985.87.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.65) for December month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (1.39), Petronet LNG (1.33), Grasim Industries (1.23), National Aluminium Company (1.15) and Laurus Labs (1.14).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 26,379 units of Open Interest in the December month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 7,340 units of Open Interest in the December month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 13,460 units of Open Interest in the December month futures, Vedanta witnessed an addition of 2,438 units of Open Interest in the December month futures and Infosys witnessed a contraction of 4,486 units of Open Interest in the December month futures. (Provisional).