Sensex down 260 pts; pharma shares slide for 4th day; VIX tumbles 5.16%

The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in early afternoon trade, as investors remained cautious amid uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's tariff plan. The Nifty traded below the 23,550 mark. Pharma shares extended losses for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 259.73 points or 0.34% to 77,348.12. The Nifty 50 index declined 66.35 points, or 0.28%, to 23,525.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.27%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.17%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,973 shares rose and 1,873 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 5.16% to 12.61. The Nifty 24 April 2025 futures were trading at 23,660.10 at a premium of 134.5 points as compared with the spot at 23,525.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 24 April 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 36.7 lakh contracts at the 23,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 50.3 lakh contracts was seen at 23,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index shed 0.68% to 21,132.40. The index fell 2.93% in the four consecutive trading sessions.

Ipca Laboratories (down 1.57%), Cipla (down 1.57%), Alkem Laboratories (down 1.19%), Biocon (down 1.19%), and Divis Laboratories (down 1.06%) were the top losers. Among the other losers were Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.96%), Natco Pharma (down 0.88%), Mankind Pharma (down 0.82%), Laurus Labs (down 0.68%), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.66%).

On the other hand, J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (up 2%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.94%), and Abbott India (up 0.61%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Asian Paints rose 0.23%. The company said that it has approved an additional capital expenditure of Rs 690 crore for its upcoming manufacturing facility in Dahej, Gujarat.

Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers rallied 3.36% after the companys board reappointed Shailesh Khaitan as chairman & managing director (MD) of the company for a period of three years, effective from 1 April 2025.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) advanced 1.76% after the company announced that it had received a Letter of Intent (LoI) worth approximately Rs 11,800 crore.

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