It is not uncommon for the stock market to experience a "Santa Claus rally" during the holiday season, which refers to a period of positive performance in the stock market that often occurs in the final weeks of the year. This phenomenon has been observed in a number of countries and may be driven by a number of factors, including increased consumer spending during the holiday season, a "year-end" effect in which investors sell off underperforming stocks and buy those that have performed well, and the "window dressing" effect, in which fund managers make changes to their portfolios to improve the appearance of their year-end statements.

However, it is important that the stock market does not always experience a Santa Claus rally, and past performance is not indicative of future results. The stock market can be influenced by a variety of internal and external factors, and it is important for investors to carefully consider the risks and potential rewards of any investment decision. 

Nifty, BSE-30 and Bank Nifty all lost rally and suffered a bearish hit for third straight consecutive day in the last week of December. The global cues were also not supportive due to inflation, new covid-19 XBB variant effect in China, India and other parts of the world. In-addition to this with hawkish comments from Japan government officials. The market could though experience a bounce back in the coming weeks to give investors a relief. However, the market has gained significantly in recent weeks and was pending a correction. This is a sell-on-rise phase where market participants are selling on each bounce, hence, any fresh investments should be done in caution.

The 50-packed index plummeted over 300 points to finish below 17,900 levels, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost over 950 points to close below 60,000 levels.

Additionally, broader markets suffered greatly from the sharp selloff and lagged benchmark indexes. The Nifty SmallCap 100 and Nifty MidCap 100 indexes had a 4% decline in trading.

The Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty, and Nifty PSU Bank indexes all saw up to 6% declines, while all sectors were submerged in the sea of red.

Analysts advised investors to bet on good quality equities despite the bleak outlook, even if a "Santa Claus bounce" looked unlikely.