Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat Amid Volatility; Pharma Shares Gain, IT Metal Top Drags
Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Wednesday, December 29, amid volatile trading on weak global cues due to year-end portfolio adjustments. The Sensex fell 90 points to 57,806 and the Nifty 50 closed just above the 17,200 mark, down 22 points. Shares of big pharma companies like Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories gained today, keeping the market bullish for most of today’s session.
Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Divis Labs were among the top gainers. On the flipside, ITC, State Bank of India (SBI), Coal India, Tech Mahindra were among the top losers. Mid- and small-cap stocks ended on a positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.08 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.59 per cent.
On the stock-specific front, Baja Auto surged over two per cent today after the company announced that it would set up a Rs 300-crore electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing unit in Pune. Shares of Bajaj Auto were trading 2.94 per cent higher at an intraday high of Rs 3,270 on the BSE.
Pharmaceutical stocks such as Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained nearly two per cent on Wednesday after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved emergency use of anti-viral drug – mollupiravir – in the country. . To fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiplex stocks such as PVR and Inox Leisure fell nearly three per cent today after the Delhi government announced restrictions as part of its ‘Level 1’ or ‘yellow alert’ amid rising Omicron cases in the national capital. As part of the new guidelines, all cinema halls/theatres or multiplexes in Delhi will remain closed to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus variant.
