As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 450.94 points or 0.57% to 78,248.13. The Nifty 50 index fell 168.50 points or 0.71% to 23,644.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.13% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.47%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,489 shares rose and 2,633 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.55% to 13.97.

Economy

The country’s forex reserves dropped by a further $8.478 billion to $644.391 billion for the week ended December 20, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by $1.988 billion to a six-month low of $652.869 billion.

Foreign currency assets decreased by $6.014 billion to $556.562 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

Gold reserves decreased by $2.33 billion to $65.726 billion during the week. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $112 million to $17.885 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $23 million to $4.217 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data showed.

New Listing:

Shares of Senores Pharmaceuticals closed at Rs 557.80 on the BSE, representing a premium of 42.66% as compared with the issue price of Rs 391.

The scrip was listed at Rs 593.70, exhibiting a premium of 51.84% to the issue price.

The stock has hit a high of 609 and a low of 538.85. On the BSE, over 10.98 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

Shares of Ventive Hospitality closed at Rs 704.55 on the BSE, representing a premium of 9.57% as compared with the issue price of Rs 643.

The scrip was listed at Rs 718.15, exhibiting a premium of 11.69% to the issue price.

The stock has hit a high of 748.80 and a low of 701.55. On the BSE, over 8.42 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

Shares of Carraro India closed at Rs 636.30 on the BSE, representing a discount of 9.62% as compared with the issue price of Rs 704.

The scrip was listed at Rs 660, exhibiting a discount of 6.25% to the issue price.

The stock has hit a high of 682 and a low of 631.30. On the BSE, over 3 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index declined 1.87% to 1,819.05. The index rose 0.38% in the past trading session.

Network 18 Media & Investments (down 3.95%), PVR Inox (down 2.23%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 2.17%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 2.12%), Tips Music (down 2.11%), Den Networks (down 1.91%), Dish TV India (down 1.57%), Saregama India (down 1.25%), Nazara Technologies (down 1.21%) and Sun TV Network (down 0.49%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries shed 0.82%. The company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Strategic Business Ventures (RSBVL), has completed the acquisition of Karkinos Healthcare.

Adani Enterprises jumped 7.65% after the company announced that it has signed an agreement with Wilmar International to completely exit from the joint venture (JV), Adani Wilmar.

KEC International rallied 3.61% after the company announced that it has secured new orders of Rs 1,073 crore across its various businesses.

Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) surged 4.02% following the government's decision to waive off bank guarantees for spectrum acquired in past auctions.

Ola Electric Mobility dropped 5.55% following the resignations of chief marketing officer Anshul Khandelwal and chief technology and product officer Suvonil Chatterjee, effective December 27th.

Vakrangee jumped 4.43% after the company announced a strategic corporate agency tie-up with Shriram Life Insurance to offer life insurance products across its network.

Servotech Power Systems jumped 4.50% after the company announced that it has secured 1100 grid-connected agriculture pumps from UPNEDA under the KUSUM component C-1 scheme.

IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals advanced 1.60% after the company’s board approved the sub-division / split of each equity share into five equity shares.

JSW Energy rallied 3.09% after its wholly-owned subsidiary, JSW Neo Energy (JSWNEL) acquired a 4,696 MW renewable energy platform from O2 Power Midco Holdings and O2 Energy SG for Rs 12,468 crore.

MBL Infrastructure hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company received a defect liability period completion certificate from PWD Haryana for the construction of various buildings in Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonipat.

Tiger Logistics (India) added 2.20% after the company announced that it has been empaneled by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for providing logistic services.

Hero Motocorp fell 1.21%. The company announced that it has extended its partnership with Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Inc. to co-develop and manufacture a new motorcycle as well as expand the existing co-developed model into new variants.

Global Markets:

European stocks slipped on Monday as markets prepared to wind down for the New Year holiday.

Asian stocks ended mixed as traders await China’s manufacturing PMI on Tuesday.

South Korea's industrial output contracted 0.7% on a monthly basis in November as compared to October’s reading of a 6.3% increase.

Japan’s factory activity contracted at a slower rate in December. The au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index climbed to 49.6 in December, coming in slightly above November’s reading of 49.0 and marking the softest contraction in three months.

US stocks closed lower on Friday as investors booked profits across sectors, with technology stocks leading the selloff. This decline was attributed to a rise in Treasury yields, which increases borrowing costs for companies, potentially impacting spending on innovation and expansion and squeezing profit margins.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.77%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.11%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended 1.49% lower. Apple Inc., which had reached a record high the previous day after an upgrade from Wedbush, fell 1.3%. Tesla Inc. stock declined 5%, while NVIDIA Corporation, a market darling, edged 2.2% lower. Alphabet Inc. also fell over 1%, contributing to a broader tech selloff.