Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened lower on Tuesday amid a weak trend in global markets, but pharma stocks surged limiting the downside.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell over 200 points early on but recovered some lost ground to trade 109 points lower at 72,162. NSE’s Nifty50 index was down 12 points at 21,730.
Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, and Bharti Airtel were among the top Sensex gainers. Conversely, UltraTech Cement, M&M, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, and Infosys traded with losses.
In the broader market, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 climbed to 0.5% each. The Nifty Pharma index stood out with gains of nearly 2% driven by a spike in Divi’s Labs and Cipla.
Coal India, Dr Reddy’s, and SBI Life Insurance were some other top performers. On the downside, auto and IT stocks saw some profit-taking.
On Monday, domestic equities ended flatly amid a volatile session. Market experts expect the consolidation to continue until the upcoming Budget which may provide further direction.
Globally, Asian stocks traded lower as investors exercised caution ahead of important economic events lined up this week including US inflation data.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee slipped 11 paise to 83.32 per dollar amid foreign fund outflows and firming crude oil prices. Brent crude was last seen 1.6% higher near $78.3 per barrel.
Going ahead, pharma stocks will remain in focus after recently receiving production-linked incentives from the government. Markets await more large cap earnings this week for further cues.
