Nifty below 17,800; Sensex drops 117 pts; Pharma stocks decline

The key equity indices continued to trade with minor losses in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,800 mark. FMCG and media stocks advanced while metal, pharma and private bank shares corrected.

At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 117.15 points or 0.20% to 59,602.59. The Nifty 50 index declined 52.90 points or 0.30% to 17,763.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.34% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.35%

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,332 shares rose, and 2,066 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

Investors turned cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision. A three-quarter point increase in rate is expected. But investors are turning their attention to the Fed's updated economic projections, which will show what the Fed thinks about the endpoint on rates as well as its forecasts for inflation and employment.

Fed officials have talked in recent weeks about their determination to tame inflation, using whatever it took, despite any pain that may cause to the economy. Such a stance could also mean a recession in the near future.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.264 as compared with 7.294 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 79.79, compared with its close of 79.74 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2022 settlement declined 0.49% to Rs 49,417.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, added 0.18% to 110.74.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2022 settlement rose $2.46 or 2.71% at $93.08 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index declined 1.03% to 12,619.05. The index rose 3.26% in past two trading sessions.

Gland Pharma (down 3.6%), Biocon (down 2.13%), Laurus Labs (down 1.64%), Alkem Laboratories (down 1.24%), Cipla (down 1.19%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.15%), Divis Laboratories (down 1.15%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 1.14%), Natco Pharma (down 1.06%) and Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 0.99%) declined.

On the other hand, Granules India (up 1.98%),Strides Pharma Science (up 0.47%) and Alembic Pharmaceuticals (up 0.32%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Central Bank of India jumped 7.13% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to remove the public sector bank from prompt corrective action (PCA) framework. RBI on Tuesday (20 September) said the Board for Financial Supervision reviewed the performance of the Central Bank of India. The regulator noted that as per the assessed figures of the bank for the year ended 31 March, it is not in the breach of the PCA parameters.

Intellect Design Arena rose 0.38% after it said that Cathay United Bank has chosen to implement Intellect Global Consumer Banking's (iGCB) digital credit platform 'iKredit 360' to power the next growth stage of their lending business. One of the largest and most prestigious financial groups in Taiwan, Cathay Financial Holdings has been in Vietnam for over 20 years now.

C.E. Info Systems (MapMyIndia) declined 0.28%. The company announced that it has acquired 26.37% stake in Kogo Tech Labs to build travel & hyper-local discovery, commerce, social, gamified platform integrated with maps and navigation. The cost of acquisition of 26.37% stake stood at $1.25 million (Rs 10 crore) along with an option to raise stake to 50% in two years.

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