Stock Markets Slip In Morning Trade, Pharma Gains Nearly 2%

The Nifty Microcap 250 led the gains and was trading up by 0.60 per cent. Among others, the Nifty Smallcap 100 traded up by 0.49 per cent.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday, slipped in morning trade. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 202.76 points to touch 72,069.18 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 42.9 points to hit 21,699.

At 9:46 AM, the Sensex was trading at 72,162.50, at a loss of 109.44 points, while the Nifty50 stood at 21,730, after slipping 11.90 points. 

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance emerged as the prime gainers. On the downside, UltraTech Cement, M&M, Asian Paint, HCL Tech, and Infosys were among those trading in the red. 

In the broader markets, the indices were mostly trading in green. The Nifty Microcap 250 led the gains and was trading up by 0.60 per cent. Among others, the Nifty Smallcap 100 traded up by 0.49 per cent. Among the laggards, the Nifty 100 index dipped 0.02 per cent in the morning. 

Among specific stocks on the NSE, Divi’s Laboratories Ltd advanced nearly 3 per cent in the morning, followed by Coal India, trading up by 1.95 per cent. 

Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma and Healthcare indices led the gains and were trading higher by 1.93 per cent and 1.57 per cent respectively. Among the rest, Auto and IT led the losses and dropped 0.57 per cent and 0.47 per cent respectively.

In the previous trading session on Monday, the two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty ended trading at a muted high. The S&P BSE Sensex gained nearly 32 points to close at 72,271.94, while the NSE Nifty50 climbed marginally to settle at 21,741.90, as the first trading session of the New Year came to a close.

The domestic rupee depreciated 11 paise to touch 83.32 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, amidst a negative trend in domestic equities and the strength of the American dollar in the overseas market. Forex traders noted that foreign funds outflows and dollar demand from importers impacted investor sentiments. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.28 against the greenback, and later fell to 83.32.  A day earlier, the Indian currency settled at 83.21 against the American unit.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, traded higher by 1.60 per cent to $78.27 per barrel. Exchange data revealed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) became net sellers in the capital markets on Monday and offloaded shares worth Rs 855.80 crore.