Barometers trade with significant cuts; pharma shares tumble for 4th day

The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with major losses in the mid-morning trade, driven by concerns over potential U.S. retaliatory tariffs and ongoing foreign selling, dampening risk sentiment. The Nifty hovered below the 22,800 level. Pharma shares witnessed selling pressure for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 465.15 points or 0.62% to 75,261.87. The Nifty 50 index declined 144.05 points or 0.63% to 22,769.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.03% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.63%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,573 shares rose and 2,086 shares fell. A total of 173 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's private sector activity witnessed its fastest expansion since August 2024, according to the HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index. The index rose to 60.6 in February, up from 57.7 in January, signaling a significant acceleration in combined manufacturing and services output.

However, while overall private sector activity surged, growth in the manufacturing sector moderated slightly. The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI slipped to 57.1 in February from 57.7 in January. Despite the decline, the manufacturing PMI remained above its long-run average of 54.1.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index fell 1.73% to 20,426.75. The index slipped 3.08% in the past four trading sessions.

Ipca Laboratories (down 3.99%), Biocon (down 3.82%), Divis Laboratories (down 3.6%), Ajanta Pharma (down 3%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 2.52%), Lupin (down 2.21%), Alkem Laboratories (down 2.15%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 2.11%), Granules India (down 2.1%) and Abbott India (down 1.95%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Senores Pharmaceutical added 3.46% after the companys wholly owned subsidiary, Senores Pharmaceuticals, Inc., USA has signed an agreement to acquire Roflumilast 250 mcg and 500 mcg tablets from Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc.

Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India declined 1.48% the company reported 1% rise in net profit to Rs 46.35 crore on a 6.8% increase in net sales to Rs 170.70 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY24.

Dee Development Engineers shed 0.62%. The company announced that it has received a Letter of Intent (LoI) worth Rs 27 crore for the supply of fittings for a thermal power plant.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks declined on Friday due to ongoing worries about U.S. trade tariffs and the prospect of sustained high interest rates. However, strong earnings from Alibaba fueled a rally in Hong Kong.

Japanese stocks were little changed after stronger-than-expected January inflation data. Headline national CPI jumped to a two-year high of 4.0% year-on-years in January, up from 3.6% the previous month, according to government data. Core CPI, excluding fresh food and energy costs, rose slightly to 2.5% year-on-year from 2.4% in the prior month. This data strengthens the case for further interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.

Japanese manufacturing activity contracted for the eighth consecutive month in February. The au Jibun Bank manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 48.9 in February, slightly better than January's 48.7. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

U.S. stocks declined overnight after weak earnings from Walmart, raising concerns about a slowing economy. Wall Street also saw some profit-taking after the S&P 500 reached a series of record highs this week.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 6,117.63, the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.5% to 19,962.36, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1% to 44,176.90.

Walmart Inc. stabilized in after-hours trading after falling 6.5% during Thursday's session due to weaker-than-expected earnings for the December quarter. Walmart's losses affected other retail stocks, amid concerns that U.S. consumer spendinga key economic driverwas cooling after a strong year.

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