Sensex drops 265 pts; Nifty above 17,050; pharma shares advance

The key equity barometers continued to trade with moderate losses in the mid-afternoon trade. Negative global cues dented the sentiments. The Nifty traded tad above the 17,050 level. Metal, pharma and healthcare shares advanced while PSU bank, bank and financial services stocks declined.

At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 265.46 points or 0.46% to 57,360.45. The Nifty 50 index lost 70 points or 0.41% to 17,053.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.58% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.30%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,234 shares rose, and 2,144 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 7.432 as compared with 7.435 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.4075, compared with its close of 82.33 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2022 settlement rose 0.34% to Rs 51,079.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.05% to 113.26.

The United States 10-year bond yield increased to 3.917 as compared with 3.902 at close in the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2022 settlement rose 65 cents or 0.70% at $93.10 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.22% to 12,868, extending its gaining run to second trading session. The index added 0.32% in the two trading sessions.

Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 1.18%), Natco Pharma (up 1.08%), Lupin (up 0.99%), Granules India (up 0.28%) and Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 0.07%) Laurus Labs (up 0.03%) declined.

On the other hand, Biocon (down 1.85%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 1.81%) and Sanofi India (down 1.57%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RITES jumped 5.37% after the company said that its consortium has secured a new business order for construction of depot cum workshop for Rs 499.41 crore from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. "The share of RITES in the order is 51%, the company said in a statement.

JMC Projects (India) soared 4.96% after the company said that the board approved the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Rs 75 crore on private placement basis. The board approved the issue of 750 non-convertible debentures of the face value of Rs 10 lakh aggregating to Rs 75 lakh. The issue has been divided in Series A debentures and Series B debentures.

Kalpataru Power Transmission advanced 2.22% after the company announced the completion of the sale and transfer of an additional approximately 25% of the total equity shares of Alipurduar Transmission to Adani Transmission.

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