Sensex, Nifty at the low point of the day; Pharma stocks decline

The domestic equity barometers pared all recovery gains and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,900 mark. Pharma stocks witnessed some bit of selling pressure.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 221.1 points or 0.37% to 60,039.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 63.60 points or 0.35% to 17,880.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.38% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.32%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1827 shares rose and 1394 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index fell 1.12% to 12,833.70. The index had gained 0.90% in the past two sessions.

Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 2.94%), Cipla (down 1.23%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 1.17%), Strides Pharma Science (down 0.95%) and Biocon (down 0.91%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.88%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.78%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.72%), Granules India (down 0.5%) and Divis Laboratories (down 0.47%).

Meanwhile, Natco Pharma (up 2.01%) ,Gland Pharma (up 1.21%) and Laurus Labs (up 0.71%) outperformed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Power Mech Projects (PMPL) rallied 3.52%. The company announced that it has bagged a record order for 5 Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) projects with an aggregating value of Rs 6,163.20 crore from Adani Group.

Natco Pharma gained 1.26%. The company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted tentative approval to its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Trabectedin for Injection (generic for Yondelis) for the 1mg/vial presentation.

Craftsman Automation added 1.91%. The company has commenced the commercial operations of its new/additional plant at Pune, Maharashtra.

Global Markets:

Markets in Asia traded lower on Thursday after the latest Wall Street rally cooled overnight.

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting in July suggested policymakers may be less aggressive than previously thought when they raise interest rates in September.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting shows that central bankers plan to continue rate hikes in order to bring down inflation.

With inflation remaining well above the Committee's objective, participants judged that moving to a restrictive stance of policy was required to meet the Committee's legislative mandate to promote maximum employment and price stability, the minutes said.

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