Indices turn rangebound; pharma shares advance

The domestic equity benchmarks traded in a narrow range with minor cuts in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below 25,200 level after hitting the days high of 25,275.45 in early trade. Pharma shares extended gains for the third consecutive trading session. Trading was volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 95.96 points or 0.12% to 82,257.56. The Nifty 50 index lost 23.25 points or 0.09% to 25,175.45.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.48% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.69%.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap and S&P BSE Small-Cap index hit an all-time high at 49,337.63 and 56,771.39 respectively.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,354 shares rose and 1,442 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 1.18% to 14.21. The Nifty 26 September 2024 futures were trading at 25,257.45, at a premium of 82 points as compared with the spot at 25,175.45.

The Nifty option chain for the 26 September 2024 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 47.7 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 102.3 lakh contracts were seen at 25,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.79% to 23,367.60. The index gained 1.65% in three consecutive trading sessions.

Laurus Labs (up 4.66%), Ipca Laboratories (up 2.71%), Mankind Pharma (up 2.22%), Biocon (up 2.21%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.81%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.67%), Lupin (up 1.39%), Natco Pharma (up 1.23%), Sanofi India (up 1.09%) and J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (up 1.03%) advanced.

On the other hand, Cipla (down 0.36%), Granules India (down 0.31%) and Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.11%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

KPI Green Energy shed 0.92%. The company said that the credit rating agency ICRA has upgraded its rating on the long-term facilities of the company to "[ICRA] A from "ICRA] A-.

PNB Housing Finance declined 2.17% after the company informed that its board is scheduled to meet on 9 September to approve the issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) up to Rs 2,500 crore.

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