Markets have a mind of their own and they moved in a listless manner over the last week drifting down. They however took technical support at levels which were mentioned last week and recovered. Whether the recovery is short lived or meaningful, only time will tell. For the week they have survived. BSESENSEX gained on one of the five trading sessions and lost on four. It was down 338.30 points or 0.40% to close at 84,929.36 points while NIFTY lost 80.55 points or 0.31% to close at 25,966.40 points. BANK NIFTY lost 320.75 points or 0.54% to close at 59,069.20 points. The broader markets saw BSE100, BSE200 AND BSE500 lose 0.26%, 0.22% and 0.23% respectively. BSEMIDCAP gained a tad at 0.15% while BSESMALLCAP lost 0.18%. The lows from where markets turned on Thursday were at 84,238.43 points on BSESENSEX and at 25,726.30 points on NIFTY.

The Indian Rupee which has been under pressure managed to hold on and gained 9 paisa or 0.10% to close at Rs 90.43 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones gained on two of the five sessions and lost on three. It lost 323.16 points or 0.67% to close at 48,134.89 points. 

Coming to primary markets, we had five listings last week. While there were two listings on Monday and Wednesday each, the fifth and final listing was on Friday. There is IPO fatigue and of the five listings we had two closing below issue price on day one. Yet another slipped during the week. Only two had great debuts. The first was Corona Remedies which against an issue price of Rs 1,062 closed day one at Rs 1,437.20. The share lost ground during the week and closed at Rs 1,374.85, a gain of Rs 312.85 or 29.86%. 

The other star performer was the issue from ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd which had issued shares at Rs 2,165. The share listed at Rs 2,606.20 on BSE and at Rs 2,600 on NSE. The share closed at Rs 2,586.70, a gain of Rs 421.70, or 19.48%. The gains were impressive because this was a mega issue of over Rs 10,600 crores. Further the delivery volume on day one was a massive 2.22 crore shares which was 70.82% of the traded volume of 3.14 crore shares. The issue size was 4.89 crore shares and if one were to consider it without the anchor position, this would reduce to 2.93 crore shares. This means that on day one, as much as 75.57% of the non-anchor position has changed hands. This augurs well for the share and signals fresh upsides in the short to medium term for the share. With the company becoming the new market benchmark for listed AMC stocks, one would follow this for trends in the mutual fund industry. 

The shares to trade lower on listing day were Wakefit Innovations and Park Medi World. The one that after listing positive on day one slipped into negative territory was Nephrocare Health Services Limited. 

There is one issue opening in the week ahead from Gujarat Kidney and Super Specialty Limited. The issue consists of a fresh issue of 2.2 crore shares in a price band of Rs 108-114. The issue would open on Monday the 22nd of December and close on Wednesday the 24th of December. The objects of the offer include two acquisitions. The first is of Parekhs Hospital Pvt Limited and the second is of Ashwini Medical Centre, both of which are operating hospitals in Gujarat. Further, the company since filing the DRHP has acquired another hospital, Harmony Medicare in the current first half of FY26. Considering these three facts the present PE multiple of 58.38-61.62 does not take into account the same. If one had an insight into the working of these three hospitals and their past performance it would have helped in better evaluation of the same. In any case, considering the business model of growing through acquisitions, acquiring hospital which are mid-sized, located in Gujarat, where promoters and people running the hospital are doctors, is a great business model. Investments are warranted for the long term considering the upside with the acquisitions mentioned. 

It appears that post this issue, primary markets on the main board are likely to take a short holiday hopefully. It would be a good time to look at the over 103 issues listed in the year so far and final number of 105 that would complete the tally for 2025.

Coming back to the markets in the week ahead, we still await news. Till now it was news on the Ukraine-Russia war and the India US trade deal. To that, we will now add news on Q3 results which will be upcoming in January. Even small positive news would be big for markets, while no news would be bad news. We have solid support at levels of 25,700 on NIFTY and last Thursday was an example of the same. On the upside, resistance zone currently exists at 26,250 points. 

The strategy would be to refrain from large positions. Also remember we celebrate Christmas on Thursday the 25th of December which is a global holiday for major markets. It breaks any momentum which may build in the market and reverse trends. I believe with the year end a mere 7 trading sessions away, time to look at start preparing for your portfolio balancing and reshuffle for 2026. 

Merry Christmas in advance and trade cautiously.

The week gone by was one of two halves. The first saw markets declining all the way till Thursday morning and then making a sharp U-turn on Thursday. In the second half it made sharp recoveries on Thursday and Friday, but not enough to reverse the losses markets suffered. It did however experience a substantial recovery from Thursday’s lows which were made at 84,150.19 on BSESENSEX and at 25,693.25 points on NIFTY. Markets gained on two of the five trading sessions and lost on three. BSESENSEX was down 444.71 points or 0.52% to close at 85,267.66 points while NIFTY lost 139.50 points or 0.53% to close at 26,046.95 points. BANKNIFTY lost 387.25 points or 0.65% to close at 59,389.95 points. The broader markets saw BSE100, BSE200 AND BSE500 lose 0.54%, 0.46% and 0.44% respectively. BSEMIDCAP lost 0.30% while BSESMALLCAP lost 0.40%. 

The Indian Rupee continued to be under pressure and lost 44 paisa or 0.49% to close at Rs 90.52 to the US Dollar. The US FED has cut interest rates by 25 basis points to a band of 3.5% – 3.75% during its two-day meeting held between Thursday and Friday, last week. Dow Jones gained on two of the five trading sessions and lost on three. It was up 503.06 points or 1.05% to close at 48,458.05 points. 

The primary market juggernaut continues. On Friday last week, we saw the mega-issue from ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited open. The issue consists of entirely an offer for sale of 4.89 crore shares in a price band of Rs 2,061-Rs 2,165. The issue would raise Rs 10,600 crores at the top end of the price band.  The company is the 2nd largest AMC in the country after SBI. This business has one great characteristic, that it does not require capital for doing the business. The AUM of investors is the capital, and the AMC gets a commission on handling the money and generating returns for unit holders and now shareholders. 

There is another issue which would open in the week ahead from KSH International Limited which is tapping the markets with its fresh issue of Rs 420 crores and an offer for sale of Rs 290 crores. The price band is Rs 365-384 and the issue would open on Tuesday the 16th of December and close on Thursday the 18th of December. The company is the 3rd largest manufacturer of magnet winding wires in the country in terms of capacity. It is also the largest exporter of such wires from India. It is doubling its capacity from the roughly 30,000 MT that it has currently to 60,000 MT in two phases. As of date the first phase of expansion of 12,000 MT has already been commissioned and the second phase of 18,000 MT is roughly 15 months away. There is huge demand of the company’s products looking at the need for transformers which need to be replaced and also new demand looking at the massive thrust on renewable energy like wind and solar. 

We also have in the midst of all of this a company on the SME platform which has opened its issue to raise Rs 12.27 crores. What raises eyebrows and draws attention to is the fact that the company is into the business of selling vegetables through the company’s outlets in Gujarat. The fixed price is Rs 30. The share would list on BSE SME exchange and the issue is open from 12th to 16th December.  No business is small and everyone has a right to access the capital markets. The issue has been subscribed 0.05 times at the end of day one. The merchant banker of this company is Grow House Wealth Management Private Limited. Looking at the kind of issue hitting the markets, it makes one wary and skeptical. Hope the stock exchanges and the regulator are taking care of the system or we could see a larger meltdown in the markets in time to come. 

We would be having quite a few listings on the main board in the week ahead. They would be led by mattress and furniture maker Wakefit Innovations Limited on Monday, 15th December along with Corona Remedies Limited. This would be followed by Nephrocare Health Services Limited and Park Medi World Limited on Wednesday the 17th of December. 

Markets are currently struggling and are not having any trend. The atmosphere is one of anticipation and people waiting for strong news flow which is expected to drive markets. The visit of Russian Premier happened and no trade deals have been announced as yet. USA wants to push the agreement with India and maintain its hold, but is for reasons best known to them not announcing the deal. They did rush a team to India, but that’s that. This state of limbo saw markets crack last week but find strong support at areas of around 25,700 on NIFTY. This continues to be a strong support zone. On the upside we have a clear pathway which could take us to 26,500 and beyond……… provided there is big news. When that would happen or come, your guess is as good as mine. What if it does not come? We will continue to wait and hope for the best. 

The simple strategy would be to keep your ears to the ground and hope to pick up even murmurs. Markets are evenly poised and are testing one’s patience. News on the Russia-Ukraine front or the US trade deal have a big potential to drive markets with many ramifications as well. The delay could at worse dampen the sentiment and make people desperate to take wrong decisions. Look to buy on dips and there will be plenty of such moves in the short term. Take advantage of the uncertainty and sell what you have bought when everyone wants to buy. Keep in mind that in roughly four weeks’ time from now we would be discussing Q3 results for the October to December quarter. 

Trade cautiously but be extremely patient.