Nifty hovers above 17,850; broader market in red

Key indices traded near the flat line in mid afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above 17,850 level. Realty, auto, banks and financial shares were in demand while IT and pharma shares declined.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 27.3 points or 0.05% to 60,075.05. The Nifty 50 index was up 7.2 points at 17,860.4.

The broader market declined. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.15% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.13%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1535 shares rose and 1639 shares fell. A total of 213 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slipped 1.09% to 14,134, falling for second trading session. The pharmaceutical index lost 1.7% in two days.

Divi's Laboratories (down 3.23%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.39%), Sun Pharmaceutical Inds (down 0.97%), Biocon (down 0.74%) and Dr. Reddy's Lab (down 0.56%) were top losers in pharma space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Copper fell 0.32%. The Government of India has offered to sell 31,98,646 equity shares to eligible employees of the state-run company at Rs 116 each. In accordance with the approval given by alternative mechanism on 15 September 2021, the Government of India is offering up to 31,98,646 equity shares (0.33% equity) of face value of Rs 5 each to the eligible employees of the company at Rs 116 per equity share. The offer price is 5.17% premium to Hindustan Copper's closing price of Rs 110.30 on Friday, 24 September 2021. The employee OFS shall remain open from 27 September 2021 to 29 September 2021 (both days inclusive).

Patel Engineering 8.79% to Rs 17.95 after the company bagged Rs 1,251 crore, lot-II civil work contract for 500 MW Teesta-VI Hydro Electric Project, Sikkim, from Lanco Teesta Hydro Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of NHPC.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 73.6825 from its previous closing of 73.6875.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2021 settlement rose 0.08% to Rs 46,030.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.1% to 93.427.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2021 settlement rose 94 cents or 1.2% to $79.03 a barrel.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.192% from its previous close of 6.181%.

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