Sensex, Nifty at the high point of the day; pharma shares edge higher

The domestic equity benchmarks were currently at the day`s high in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 21,200 mark. Pharma shares witnessed across the board buying. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 159.52 points or 0.23% to 70,665.83. The Nifty 50 index added 52.70 points or 0.25% to 21,202.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.92% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.26%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,447 shares rose and 1,203 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.13% to 14.43. The Nifty 28 December 2023 futures were trading at 21,293.40, at a premium of 90.55 points as compared with the spot at 21,202.85.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 December 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 58.9 lakh contracts at the 22,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 79.8 lakh contracts were seen at 21,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.70% to 16,234.10. The index had declined 1.65% to end at 16,121.25 yesterday.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 4.32%), Laurus Labs (up 2.74%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 2.73%), Granules India (up 2.34%) and Lupin (up 1.85%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.75%), Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals (up 1.64%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 1.45%), Biocon (up 1.44%) and Abbott India (up 1.1%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Swelect Energy Systems added 1.92%. CRISIL Ratings upgraded its ratings on the bank facilities of the company to "CRISIL A-/Stable/CRISIL A2+� from "CRISIL BBB+/Stable/CRISIL A2`. CRISIL said that the rating upgrade reflects CRISIL�s belief that the Swelect group�s credit risk profile will continue to strengthen over the medium term, supported by an improvement in performance in its independent power producer (IPP) segment.

Ultratech Cement rose 0.32%. The company said that it has entered into share subscription and shareholders agreement to acquire 26% equity shares of Clean Max Terra. The acquisition is for the purposes of meeting the company�s green energy needs, optimising energy cost and comply with regulatory requirements for captive power consumption under electricity laws.

Cochin Shipyard rallied 7.11%. The state-run shipbuilding firm announced that it has signed a contract worth Rs 488.25 crore with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) for the short refit of Indian naval ship.

Allcargo Logistics advanced 3.34%. The company recorded a sequential increase in less than container load (LCL) volumes in the month of November 2023 to 7.17 lakh cubic meters. The company�s full container load (FCL) volume for the month of November 2023 was down 2% to 0.49 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 0.50 lakh TEUs in November 2022.

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