Barometers turn rangebound; pharma shares decline

The headline equity indices traded in a narrow range with modest losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 23,500 level. Pharma shares witnessed selling pressure for the fifth consecutive trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 211.60 points or 0.29% to 77,366.38. The Nifty 50 index lost 63.50 points or 0.27% to 23,469.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.13% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.53%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,669 shares rose and 2,382 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index lost 0.63% to 21,615.20. The index dropped 4.11% in five consecutive trading sessions.

Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 2.11%), Biocon (down 2.01%), Cipla (down 1.56%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.22%) and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 1.08%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.55%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.50%), Natco Pharma (down 0.48%), Gland Pharma (down 0.12%) and Abbott India (down 0.08%) declined.

On the other hand, Ipca Laboratories (up 3.12%), Ajanta Pharma (up 1.64%) and Mankind Pharma (up 1.16%) edged higher.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.58% to 6.935 as compared with previous close 6.827.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.3950, compared with its close of 84.4600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2024 settlement rose 0.70% to Rs 74,460.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% to 106.66.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.50% to 4.451.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2024 settlement gained 7 cents or 0.10% to $71.11 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) tumbled 7.45% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 50.51 crore in Q2 FY25 as against a net profit of Rs 18.43 crore in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations slipped 7.85% to Rs 1,087.15 in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 1,179.86 crore posted in the second quarter of FY24.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) declined 1.04%. The company informed that it has received letter of acceptance (LoA) from South Central Railway for construction project worth Rs 294.94 crore.

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