Benchmarks trade with deep cuts; pharma shares decline

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with deep cuts in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,900 level. Pharma shares edge lower for second consecutive session. Trading could be volatile on account of monthly options expiry.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 651.19 points or 1.07% to 60,327.56. The Nifty 50 index lost 193.75 points or 1.07% to 17,924.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.82%.

Seller outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1037 shares rose, and 2429 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.353 from its close of 7.346 recorded in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.6325, compared with its close of 81.6300 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement lost 0.25% to Rs 56,824.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.14% to 102.06.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.84% to 3.438.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2023 settlement lost 28 cents or 0.33% to $85.85 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slipped 1.22% to 12,439.60. The index had fallen 1.19% in two sessions.

Granules India (down 6.05%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 4.16%), Biocon (down 3.6%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 2.59%) and Zydus Lifesciences (down 2.05%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Cipla (down 1.68%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 1.37%), Ipca Laboratories (down 1.34%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 0.99%) and Laurus Labs (down 0.94%).

On the other hand, Gland Pharma (up 1.77%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.43%) turned up.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Swaraj Engines fell 2.91%. The company reported 15% rise in net profit to Rs 23.23 crore on a 17% increase in net operating revenue to Rs 278.93 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Sonata Software was down 0.01%. The IT company posted 4.39% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 117.66 crore on a 51.12% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 2,260.78 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY23.

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