Nifty below 17,350 mark, Pharma stocks decline

The domestic equity benchmarks traded near the flat line with minor losses in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,350 mark. Barring the Nifty IT index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the red.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 19.71 points or 0.03% to 58,116.65. The Nifty 50 index declined 32.85 points or 0.19% to 17,312.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.42%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,222 shares rose and 2,085 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

The market selloff came amidst geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. Investors kept a close eye on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi`s movement as she visited Taiwan the much anticipated stop on the trip that has angered China.

India Services PMI:

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index stood at 55.5 in July, from from 59.2 in June, which was the highest figure in over 11 years. The latest reading indicated the slowest rate of growth in four months.

Meanwhile, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index fell to 56.6 from 58.2 in June, highlighting the slowest increase since March. Manufacturing led the upturn with the quickest rise in production since last November, while growth of services activity eased to the weakest in four months.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.244 as compared with 7.196 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 78.9675, compared with its close of 78.53 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2022 settlement declined 0.27% to Rs 51,171.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.09 % to 106.14.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for October 2022 settlement fell 92 cents or 0.92% at $99.62 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index fell 1.13% to 12,636.30. The index added 0.11% in past trading session.

Aurobindo Pharma (down 3.28%), Alkem Laboratories (down 3.25%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 2.15%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 2.05%), Lupin (down 1.57%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 1.43%), Biocon (down 1.06%), Ipca Laboratories (down 1.03%), Alembic Pharmaceuticals (down 0.93%) and Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 0.92%) edged lower.

On the other hand, Strides Pharma Science (up 3.36%), Cipla (up 0.76%) and Granules India (up 0.63%) advanced.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries declined 1.91%. The drug major announced that its chairman and member of the board, Israel Makov, will retire from the company on 29 August 2022. Makov led the organisation for 10 years. He was appointed a board member and the chairman in 2012.

Aurobindo Pharma fell 3.28% after the company said that US drug regulator issued Form 483 with three observations after inspecting its manufacturing facility at Pydibhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Godrej Consumer Products skid 1.02% after the company reported 16.7% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 345 crore despite an 8% increase in net sales to Rs 3,094 crore in Q1 FY2023 over Q1 FY2022. During the quarter, the India business sales grew by 12% to Rs 1,814 crore but volume declined by 6%. While the Home Care category recorded a decline of 4%, Personal Care category reported a growth of 25%. EBITDA declined by 4% to Rs 408 crore in Q1 FY23.

Navneet Education (NEL) surged 11.98% after the publication company`s consolidated net profit jumped to Rs 138.56 crore in Q1 FY23 from Rs 32.12 crore posted in Q1 FY22. Revenue from Publishing content segment jumped to Rs 368.06 crore in Q1 FY23 from Rs 108.3 crore posted in Q1 FY22 and stationery products revenue rose 48.7% year on year to Rs 324.71 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2022.

Thermax slipped 3.98%. The company`s consolidated net profit surged 39% to Rs 58.95 crore on 57.2% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 1,654.48 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22. The company` revenue from energy business stood at Rs 1,227.37 crore (up 60.93% YoY), environment business revenue came at Rs 292.26 crore (up 62.02% YoY) and chemical business revenue was at Rs 150.11 crore (up 22.34% YoY) in the first quarter of financial year 2023.

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