As the calendar winds down to its final sessions of the year, Dalal Street appears to have slipped into a subdued, almost festive lull. With just a couple of trading days left for 2026, benchmark indices are struggling to find momentum, slipping below key psychological levels and moving largely sideways as investors stay cautious.

In a conversation with ET Now, market experts pointed out that the Nifty has dipped below the 26,000 mark on an intraday basis, reflecting the lack of strong directional cues. Rajesh Bhosale from Angel One noted that trading activity over the last few sessions suggests a clear “holiday mood” in the market, with limited action on the index front.

“Yes, so last two to three sessions left for the year and it seems the market is in a holiday mood, not much is happening on the index front. If we see as far as levels are concerned, 25,900 seems to be the immediate support for the Nifty. Two weeks back we had a strong move from the 25,700 levels and that golden retracement around 25,900 seems to be the immediate support, but on the higher side as long we do not cross 26,100 to 26,200 markets are likely to consolidate further, so buy on dip and booking profit at higher levels is what we are suggesting our clients,” Bhosale said.

The consolidation theme extends to the banking space as well. Bank Nifty, which has been largely flat through December, continues to respect well-defined levels. “Similarly, Bank Nifty if we see 58,500 has been acting as strong support for the entire December month, so 58,500 seems to be the crucial support but until we do not see crossing 59,500 Bank Nifty as well is likely to consolidate further. So, our bias is to focus on stock specific and on index front have a buy on dip approach,” he added.

While headline indices may be lacking excitement, Bhosale believes opportunities still exist beneath the surface. The broader market, according to him, remains muted, but the metals space continues to stand out. “So, if we talk about broader markets, not much is happening. But we cannot discard the metal basket. They are continuously outshining and we expect this performance to continue,” he said.

Within metals, Tata Steel is one stock on his radar. “One counter from this space that we are liking is Tata Steel. Today, we are seeing a fresh flag pattern breakout and we expect Tata Steel to move towards its recent high level. So, Tata Steel can be bought with a stop loss of 169 and in the near term we expect targets of around 181,” Bhosale noted.

Another stock that has caught his attention is HPCL, which is showing signs of strength despite the broader market’s sideways trend. “One more counter that is looking positive in today’s session is HPCL, so this counter is in uptrend where every dip towards 20 EMA is getting bought into. On Friday, prices took support on 20 EMA and today we are seeing prices crossing above Friday’s high. So, HPCL also looks good with a stop loss of 464, it can be bought, we are expecting targets of around 489,” he said. As the year draws to a close, the message from the market seems clear: patience and selectivity are key. With indices likely to remain range-bound, traders and investors may find better results by focusing on stock-specific opportunities rather than chasing broad-based moves in these final sessions of the year.