Benchmarks trade with small gains; pharma shares rises

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with limited gains in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 21,750 mark. Pharma shares gains after declining in the previous trading session.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 112.39 points or 0.16% to 71,540.82. The Nifty 50 index added 40.85 points or 0.19% to 21,758.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap added shed 1.27% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.55%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,190 shares rose and 2,618 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.55% to 18,638.55. The index declined 0.24% in the past trading sessions.

Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 2.47%), Cipla (up 1.57%), Lupin (up 1.44%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.65%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 0.42%), Gland Pharma (up 0.37%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.37% to 7.1008 as compared with the previous close of 7.082.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.9625, compared with its close of 82.9600 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement fell 0.24% to Rs 62,377.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.04% to 104.13.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.07% to 4.169.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2024 settlement lost 1 cents or 0.01% to $81.62 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

Orchid Pharma zoomed 17.52% after the company reported consolidated profit of Rs 29.43 crore in Q3 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 7.59 crore in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations increased 38.08% YoY to Rs 220.59 crore in Q3 FY24 from Rs 159.76 crore reported in Q3 FY23.

Protean eGov Technologies slipped 3.85% after the company�s consolidated net profit declined 46.47% to Rs 15.23 crore in Q3FY24 as compared with Rs 28.45 crore recorded in Q3 FY23.Revenue from operations stood at Rs 203.86 crore during the quarter, registering growth of 15.95% as against with Rs 175.81 crore posted in Q3 FY23.

TVS Supply Chain Solutions shed 0.72% The company said that its subsidiary TVS Australia will make aggregate payments amounting to $6 million as part of an agreement to settle certain disputes.

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