Indices trade with significant losses; pharma shares slide

The frontline indices traded with moderate losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 21,350 mark. Pharma shares witnessed profit booking after advancing in the past two trading sessions. Trading could be volatile due to January F&O series expiry today.

At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 540.66 points or 0.76% to 70,519.65. The Nifty 50 index lost 143.90 points or 0.67% to 21,310.05

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.39% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.43%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,050 shares rose and 1,573 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Nova Agritech received bids for 1,24,10,02,555 shares as against 2,54,14,74 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:43 IST on Thursday (25 January 2024). The issue was subscribed 48.83 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (23 January 2024) and it will close on Thursday (25 Thursday 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 39-41 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 365 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index declined 1.06% to 17,576. The index rallied 3.07% in past two trading sessions.

Laurus Labs (down 8.28%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 2.18%), Cipla (down 2.11%), Divis Laboratories (down 1.72%), Ipca Laboratories (down 1.61%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 1.52%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 1.35%), Biocon (down 1.08%), Abbott India (down 1.03%) and Gland Pharma (down 0.97%) slipped.

Stocks in Spotlight:

CEAT shed 1.89%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 181.48 crore during the quarter, steeply higher than Rs 35.39 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 8.65%YoY to Rs 2963.14 crore in Q3 FY24, healthy volume growth across replacement and OEM segments. Exports also continue to recover.

PNB Housing Finance tumbled 5.47%. The housing finance company�s consolidated net profit rose 25.75% to Rs 338.44 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 269.13 crore reported in Q3 FY23. Total income declined 2.26% year on year to Rs 1756 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2023.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks traded higher as markets respond to China�s central bank cutting reserve requirements for the country�s lenders.

The People�s Bank of China announced that it would reduce the amount of funds its banks are required to hold as reserves early next month in a bid to boost its struggling economy. Reserve ratio requirements for banks will be cut by 50 basis points from February 5, which will provide 1 trillion yuan ($139.8 billion) in long-term capital.

Shares of electric vehicle makers and suppliers of Tesla in Asia-Pacific fell after the U.S. EV leader warned of bleak volume growth. Tesla warned that vehicle volume growth in 2024 may be notably lower than last year.

Overnight in the U.S., the S&P 500 rose Wednesday as Netflix led a broader rally among technology names, pushing the broader market to new heights. Netflix shares surged more than 10% after the streamer said its total subscriber count hit an all-time high of 260.8 million. The broad-based index eked out a gain of 0.08% to clinch a new all-time closing high. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.36% helped by the tech rally. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26%, to 37,806.39, dragged by Verizon and 3M a day after they reported earnings.

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