Barometers trade with modest gains; pharma stocks extend gains

Key barometers traded with modest gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 189.75 points or 0.56% at 34,146.44. The Nifty 50 index added 48.15 points or 0.48% at 10,094.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.59%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1307 shares rose and 998 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 25 shares advanced while 25 stocks declined.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.84% to 29.95. The Nifty June 2020 futures were trading at 10,102.85, a premium of 8.05 points compared with the spot at 10,094.80.

On the options front, the Nifty option chain for 25 June 2020 expiry showed maximum call open interest (OI) of 18.99 lakh contracts at the 10,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 36.48 lakh contracts was seen at 9,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.52% to 10,174.75, extending gains for second day. The index has added 2.4% in two sessions while the benchmark Nifty 50 index lost 0.71% during the same period.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.25%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.29%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.37%), Strides Pharma Science (up 0.46%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.61%), Lupin (up 1.1%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.13%), Cipla (up 1.41%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.55%), Cadila Healthcare (up 2.42%) and IPCA Laboratories (up 3.27%) advanced.

Piramal Enterprises (down 4.1%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.61%), Wockhardt (down 0.55%) and Abbott India (down 0.35%) declined.

Earnings impact:

Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. fell 6.64% to Rs 64 after consolidated net profit slumped 95.9% to Rs 48.57 crore on 88.8% drop in net sales to Rs 313.10 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 171.44 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against a pre-tax profit of Rs 1,200.20 crore in Q4 March 2019.

Graphite India declined 3.81% to Rs 195.55, extending slide for the second straight session after weak Q4 outcome. The company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 7 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against net profit of Rs 562 crore in Q4 March 2019. Consolidated net sales slumped 64.4% to Rs 602 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Rs 1,693 crore in Q4 March 2019. The firm reported pre-tax loss of Rs 23 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against pre-tax profit of Rs 850 crore in Q4 March 2019. Graphite India said lower volumes and realization has impacted the sales and margins on a year on year basis.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News