Benchmarks indices trade sideways; pharma shares witness profit booking

The benchmarks indices traded sideways in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded tade above the 18,600 mark. Pharma shares witnessed some bit of profit booking after a six-day winning streak.

At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1.3 points to 62,845.08. The Nifty 50 index added 4.95 points or 0.03% to 18,603.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.16% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.17%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,635 shares rose and 1,647 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

Despite lower chances of a U.S. default, investors remained on edge as the possibility of a recession in the world`s largest economy this year, coupled with rising tensions with China, could greatly limit capital flows into regional markets.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma slipped 0.32% to 12,583.40. The index had advanced 4.12% in the past six sessions.

Gland Pharma (down 1.13%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 1.02%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 0.87%), Natco Pharma (down 0.81%) and Biocon (down 0.76%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Divis Laboratories (down 0.63%), Ipca Laboratories (down 0.6%), Laurus Labs (down 0.54%), Cipla (down 0.49%) and Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.39%).

On the other hand, Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.17%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.76%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.73%) turned up.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Campus Activewear slumped 5.41%. The company`s net profit fell marginally to Rs 22.95 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 22.96 crore reported in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations in Q4 FY23 was at Rs 347.75 crore, down 1.3% from Rs 352.34 crore posted in Q4 FY22.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) fell 3.95%. The company`s net profit declined 5% to Rs 359.25 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 378.16 crore in Q4 FY22. Revenue from operations contracted by 11.15% to Rs 5,719 crore in Q4 FY23 from Rs 6,437 crore in Q4 FY22.

Global markets:

Asian markets traded mostly lower on Tuesday asoptimism over a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling was offset by fears of worsening ties between Beijing and Washington, amid renewed sparring between the two over trade and political sanctions.

As per reports, China declined to a request for a meeting between U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu at a forum in Singapore later this week.

The move comes as relations between the two countries stew at their worst level in decades, after the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace earlier this year.

China recently blocked local sales of U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology Inc, an apparent response to strict curbs on semiconductor sales to certain Chinese entities placed by the U.S. and its allies earlier this year.

Worsening ties between the two countries also come amid waning optimism over a Chinese economic recovery this year, with focus now chiefly on manufacturing and service sector activity readings for May, due on Wednesday.

US markets were closed on Monday on the occasion of Memorial Day.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Leader Kevin McCarthy reached a deal over the weekend to raise the United States` $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avert a debt default.

The US Congress is likely to vote on the legislation on Wednesday, but some of the Republican lawmakers are said to oppose the bill, signaling that its passage would not be easy before the US runs out of money.

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