Stock market holidays for December: As November comes to a close and the final month of the year begins, investors will want to know on which days trading sessions will be there and on which days stock markets are closed. are likely keeping a close eye on year-end portfolio adjustments, global cues, and corporate earnings.For this year, the only major, away from normal scheduled market holidays in December is Christmas, observed on Thursday, December 25. On this day, Indian stock markets, including the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), will remain closed across equity, derivatives, and securities lending and borrowing (SLB) segments. Trading in currency and interest rate derivatives segments will continue as usual.Markets are expected to reopen on Friday, December 26, as investors return to monitor global developments and finalize year-end positioning. Apart from weekends, Christmas is the only scheduled market holiday this month, making December relatively quiet compared with other festive months, with regards to stock markets.The last trading session in November, which was November 28 (next two days being the weekend) ended flat. BSE Sensex slipped 13.71 points, or 0.02 per cent, to settle at 85,706.67, after hitting an intra-day high of 85,969.89 and a low of 85,577.82, a swing of 392.07 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty fell 12.60 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 26,202.95, halting its two-day rally.

A GP says patients are presenting with mental health problems because of stress they feel over their levels of personal debt.

According to Citizens Advice, north-east England has the second highest number of people who require professional assistance with debt problems – only London is higher.

Debt charity StepChange said in 2024 the highest concentration of their clients were in the North East, with 37 clients per 10,000 adults.

Dr Kamlesh Sreekissoon, who works as a GP in North Tyneside, said people were juggling “three or four jobs” in the build up to Christmas in order to manage and subsequently struggling with their mental health.

The most common reason for personal debt as reported by Stepchange’s North East clients is a rise in the cost of living (19.3%) and a lack of control over finances (19%).

Both these statistics outstrip the UK figures of 17.7% and 17.9% respectively.

Citizens Advice said thousands of people were falling deeper into debt to meet the cost of basic essentials such as food and fuel, rather than luxuries, but that people also felt under pressure to provide for Christmas.

Dr Sreekissoon said the stress caused by the debt people faced was compounded by issues relating to their family situations.

“At this time of year you will see people juggling three or four jobs, also after caring for elderly relatives, parents, [they’re] stressed out and unfortunately struggling with their mental health,” said Dr Sreekissoon.

He said the debt his patients described was not caused by buying unnecessary things, but by simply struggling to make ends meet.

“It’s more the basics,” he said. “I see people taking on working long hours, doing two or three jobs, and just being kind of stretched out, not being able to see their kids, and that just burns people out which is really sad to see”.

In a bid to provide relief to petroleum consumers, the government has reduced prices of petroleum products by up to Rs4.79 per litre for the next fortnight, according to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division late Sunday night.

The notification stated that the price adjustments were made based on recommendations from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

“The new prices will take effect from December 1, 2025, and remain in force for the next 15 days,” the notification said. Petrol prices have been cut by 2 rupees per litre, bringing the price down from 265.45 rupees to 263.45 rupees per litre.

High-speed diesel prices have also been reduced by 4.79 rupees per litre. The new price for high-speed diesel is 279.65 rupees per litre, down from the previous 284.44 rupees per litre.

High-speed diesel is widely used in the transport and agriculture sectors. Therefore, a reduction in its price will have a large impact on the lives of the people. Petrol is used in motorbikes and cars, and Punjab province is its key user due to the ban on the use of indigenous gas in CNG stations.

Kerosene oil is used for cooking purposes mainly in the northern part of the country, where LPG is not available. The government is currently charging a higher rate of taxes, which includes the petroleum levy (PL). The consumers are currently paying Rs75.41 per litre petroleum levy (PL) and Rs2.50 per litre CSL on high-speed diesel.

The consumers are also paying Rs97.62 per litre petroleum levy (PL) and Rs2.50 per litre CSL on petrol. There is no sales tax on these products.

The federal government had increased the rate of petroleum levy to pocket the entire tax collection on petroleum products. The sales tax collection moves to provinces, and therefore, the government had reduced sales tax to zero to deprive the provinces of the sales tax collection.

The petroleum levy was also supposed to invest in the development of the oil sector, like building oil storage in the country. However, the governments have been using the collection to meet their current expenditures.