Barometers erase all gains; Pharma shares slide

The headline equity benchmarks pared all gains and traded with minor cuts in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,500 level. Pharma shares extended losses for the third consecutive trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 34.93 points or 0.05% to 80,185.79. The Nifty 50 index shed 5.90 points or 0.02% to 24,466.20.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.82% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.16%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,239 shares rose and 1,638 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintained its June growth rate projects for India in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO). IMF stated that India is set to grow at 7% in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025 and 6.5% in the next fiscal year (FY2025-26).

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index slipped 0.67% to 22,674.45. The index fell 2.91% in three consecutive trading sessions.

Alkem Laboratories (down 2.22%), Gland Pharma (down 2.07%), Mankind Pharma (down 1.54%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 1.3%), Lupin (down 0.8%), Divis Laboratories (down 0.69%), Cipla (down 0.63%) and Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 0.10%) declined.

On the other hand, Zydus Lifesciences (up 2.81%), Laurus Labs (up 2.46%) and Granules India (up 2.21%) edged higher.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.14% to 6.928 as compared with previous close 6.938.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.0750, compared with its close of 84.0800 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2024 settlement rose 0.31% to Rs 78,898.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.21% to 104.30.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 0.64% to 4.235.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2024 settlement lost 70 cents or 0.92% to $75.34 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company advanced 2.89% after the life insurer's net profit rose 3.06% to Rs 251.72 crore on 42.68% jump in total income to Rs 25,007.53 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Dodla Dairy added 0.55%. The dairy product maker reported 45.36% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 63.38 crore on 29.94% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 997.62 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.