Markets end 2025 on strong note; Sensex, Nifty gain 10% for the year

Indian equity markets signed off 2025 on a strong note, with benchmark indices rising as much as 1% on the final trading day. Ending a five-session losing streak, the BSE Sensex finished at 85,220.60, gaining 545.52 points, or 0.64%, while the Nifty 50 ended at 26,129.60, up 190.75 points.

During the session, the BSE benchmark gained as much as 762 points to hit a high of 85,437, while the NSE key index rallied 249 points, or 0.96%, to 26,187.95. In the past five sessions, the Sensex lost 892 points, or 1%, while the Nifty declined 238 points, or 0.9%, over the last four trading days.

Outperforming the benchmark indices, the broader market indices gained up to 1%. The Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 closed 0.95% and 1.11% higher, respectively.

Top gainers and losers

On the BSE Sensex pack, 25 out of 30 stocks ended in positive terrain, led by Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, and Titan.

Tata Steel topped the gainers' chart by rising 2.45% as sentiment was lifted after the government announced a safeguard duty on steel imports. This was followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank , which settled 2.17% higher, while Reliance Industries , Axis Bank , and Titan gained 1.8% each. Other notable gainers were Trent, Power Grid, Bharat Electronics, NTPC and Mahindra & Mahindra.

On the flip side, IT stocks ended lower, with index heavyweight TCS declining 1.29%, Tech Mahindra falling 0.86% and Infosys slipping 0.49%. Bajaj Finance also closed weaker, down 0.27%, while Sun Pharma ended marginally lower.

Markets log 10th year of gains

The strong finish marked the tenth consecutive year of positive returns for the Sensex and the Nifty, highlighting the resilience of Indian equities amid robust domestic liquidity, easing interest rates and supportive economic fundamentals.

On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Sensex has risen over 9%, adding 7,080 points from its closing level of 78,139 on December 31, 2024. The Nifty 50 climbed 2,485 points, or 10.5%, during the same period, from 23,645 on the same day last year.

Meanwhile, the Nifty MidCap 100 gained 5.7%, extending its winning streak to six consecutive years, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 fell 5.6%, ending a two-year run of gains.

This rally made investors richer by ₹33 lakh crore, as the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies surged from ₹443.47 lakh crore to ₹476.30 lakh crore.

Sensex, Nifty hit new highs in 2025

Indian equity markets remained largely range-bound in calendar year 2025 amid global headwinds and sustained selling by foreign institutional investors. Despite heightened volatility, both benchmark indices scaled all-time highs, with the Sensex touching 86,159.02 and the Nifty 50 peaking at 26,325.80 on December 1, 2025.

The Sensex crossed the 80,000 mark for the first time in April, while the Nifty briefly traded above 25,000 in September. However, benchmarks struggled to sustain fresh highs amid stretched valuations, global uncertainties stemming from geopolitical tensions and trade frictions, persistent foreign investor outflows, and intermittent weakness in corporate earnings.

The market’s momentum was largely driven by strong domestic institutional participation, steady retail inflows and expectations of a supportive monetary policy. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) infused over ₹7 lakh crore into equities during the year, extending their buying streak to 28 consecutive months.

In sharp contrast, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹1.44 lakh crore in the cash market in 2025, as global capital rotated toward markets perceived as beneficiaries of artificial intelligence (AI). According to Axis Capital, India was viewed as an “AI loser,” partly due to concerns that AI could disrupt Indian IT services, which account for about 11% of the Nifty’s market capitalisation.

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