Indices turn range bound; Nifty hovers near 18,550; Pharma shares advance

The key equity benchmarks traded in a narrow range near the day's low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 18,550 mark after hitting the day's high at 18,664.70 in early trade. Pharma shares snapped its losing run of six days.

At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 221.12 points or 0.35% to 62,349.56. The Nifty 50 index lost 55.70 points or 0.30% to 18,553.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.20%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,484 shares rose and 1,894 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

The U.S. producer price index, due later on Friday, is expected to show that inflation faced by the manufacturing sector eased further in November. The reading is also expected to herald a similar trend in the more closely watched consumer price index, which is due to be released next week. A higher than anticipated inflation could invite more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, given that the bank has signaled that its stance on monetary policy will be largely driven by the path of inflation.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.53% to 13.1925. The Nifty 29 December 2022 futures were trading at 18,668.10, at a premium of 114.45 points as compared with the spot at 18,553.65.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 December 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 36.8 lakh contracts at the 19,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 34.3 lakh contracts were seen at 18,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma rose 0.58% to 12,803.05, snapping its declining streak of six days. The index had lost 3.16% in past six sessions.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.26%), Sanofi India (up 2.25%), Abbott India (up 1.54%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 1.27%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.13%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.11%), Ipca Laboratories (up 0.86%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 0.33%), Granules India (up 0.3%) and Gland Pharma (up 0.23%) were the gainers.

On the other hand, Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.72%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.59%) and Natco Pharma (down 0.51%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.82% after the company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Larsen & Toubro International FZE (LTIFZE) has entered into a share purchase agreement to purchase stake in OPRO.AI INC., a Delaware Corporation.

Ethos slipped 0.49%. The company said that it has signed an exclusive retail partnership with Tutima to introduce the revered Glashte-based brand in India. Through this partnership, Ethos will exclusively retail their sporty and performance-driven timepieces across the country. The selection, to be available from early 2023, will include watches from the sought-after M2 collection, Saxon One, Grand Flieger, and Patria.

KPI Green Energy declined 1.50%.. The power generation company, through its subsidiaries, commissioned 38.76 MWp Solar power projects out of which approximately 9 MWp capacity is under captive power producer (CPP) segment and around 29.67 MWp capacity is under the independent power producer (IPP) segment of the company.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News