Sensex slips 174 pts, pharma shares in demand

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in morning trade. The Nifty traded below 22,500 level. Pharma shares witnessed buying demand for the sixth consecutive trading session.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 174.28 points or 0.24% to 73,945.11. The Nifty 50 index lost 35.25 points or 0.16% to 22,458.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.90%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,312 shares rose and 2,357 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Continuing the gaining streak, India�s forex reserves surged $6.55 billion to $625.626 billion during the week ended March 1, according to the latest RBI data.

For the week ended March 1, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.043 billion to $554.231 billion, the data said.

Gold reserves increased by $569 million to $48.417 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $17 million to $18.18 billion, according to the data.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $41 million to $4.798 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.82% to 19,350.55. The index rallied 2.80% in six trading sessions.

Cipla (up 2.28%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 2.28%), Ipca Laboratories (up 2.11%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 1.93%), Lupin (up 1.76%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.41%), Divis Laboratories (up 1.11%), Biocon (up 0.99%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 0.82%) and Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.8%) advanced.

On the other hand, Sanofi India (down 1.08%), Granules India (down 1.07%) and Gland Pharma (down 0.91%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Torrent Power surged 11.24% after the company announced that it has emerged as a successful bidder and received letter of award (LoA) from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution (MSEDCL) for setting up of 306 MW grid-connected solar power project at Nasik in Maharashtra.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) rallied 4.83% after the company announced that it has received an order from Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company (MPPKVVCL) and Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEBL), aggregating to Rs 1,139.61 crore.

SJVN shed 0.78%. The company said that it�s wholly owned subsidiary SJVN Green Energy (SGEL) has signed a PUA for 500 MW solar power and a PPA for 100 MW solar power with Rajasthan Urja Vikas and IT Services (RUVITL).

Powered by Capital Market - Live News