Sensex, Nifty hit day's low; pharma shares decline

The benchmarks indices reversed gains and turned negative in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 15,650 level. Pharma shares witnessed some bit of profit booking after advancing in the past two sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 168.5 points or 0.32% to 52,372.89. The Nifty 50 index lost 65.65 points or 0.42% to 15,626.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.54% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.62%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 1280 shares rose and 1812 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Trading was volatile as investors digested the US central bank's policy action on Wednesday. The US Fed announced a 75 basis point hike in interest rates, its biggest jump in 28 years, in line with market expectations, to tame the soaring inflation.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index shed 0.48% to 12,202.45. The index had advanced 0.57% in the past two sessions.

Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.35%), Cipla (down 1.27%) and Ipca Laboratories (down 1.04%) were the top losers.

Further, Granules India (down 0.88%), Laurus Labs (down 0.85%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.68%), Alembic Pharmaceuticals (down 0.66%) and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 0.43%) edged higher.

Meanwhile, Abbott India (up 0.5%), Pfizer (up 0.47%) and Gland Pharma (up 0.34%) edged higher.

Strides Pharma Science slipped 1.5%. The pharma company said its biologics arm, Stelis Biopharma, received the EU-GMP compliance certificate for two of its manufacturing facilities.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals fell 2.28%. The pharmaceutical company on Thursday announced that it has launched Indacaterol + Mometasone fixed-dose combination (FDC) drug for patients suffering from uncontrolled asthma in India.

Global markets:

Asian stocks are trading higher on Thursday tracking U.S. stocks after the Federal Reserve raised benchmark interest rates 75 basis points in a move that equates to the most aggressive hike since 1994.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday after a policy announcement by the Federal Reserve that raised interest rates to market expectations as the central bank seeks to fight rising inflation without sparking a recession.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point in its most aggressive hike since 1994. The Fed said in a statement it was committed to bringing down inflation to 2%.

It also said it would continue to reduce holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities. Officials also significantly cut their outlook for 2022 economic growth, now anticipating just a 1.7% gain in GDP, down from 2.8% from March.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also said during his afternoon press conference that, either a 50 basis point or a 75 basis point increase seems most likely at our next meeting.

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