Nifty Pharma Emerges As Top Sectoral Gainer, Led By Dr Reddy’s, Cipla

The Nifty Pharma index emerged as the top sectoral gainer in Monday’s session, March 17, mainly led by gains in index heavyweights Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Cipla, and Sun Pharma. The index gained as much as 1.9 per cent in early trade, however, it pared the initial gains in the second half to settle with a 1.56 per cent gain, closing at 20,703.95.

Of the 20 stocks in the index, 18 closed in the green, while two ended with losses.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which has a 9.78 per cent weight in the index, led the gains with a 3.93 per cent jump, closing at Rs 1,151.50 apiece on the NSE. Granules India, with the smallest weight of just 0.96 per cent, surged 3.69 per cent to Rs 488, while Biocon, with a 1.95 per cent weight, gained 3.23 per cent, settling at Rs 333.50.

The top three index heavyweights – Sun Pharma, Cipla, and Divi’s Laboratories – all saw gains. Sun Pharma, which has the highest weight in the index of 24.7 per cent, gained 1.21 per cent, Cipla by 2.04 per cent, and Divi’s Laboratories added 0.88 per cent.

Other constituents of the index such as Natco Pharma, Alkem Laboratories, and Abbot India gained in the range of 2-3 per cent. Ipca Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Glenmark, Ajanta Pharma, Laurus Labs, Zydus Lifesciences, Torrent Pharma and JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals also closed in the green.

Lupin gained 1 per cent after the pharma major announced that it has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Amifampridine Tablets, 10 mg.

The losers were Mankind Pharma, which declined 1.61 per cent, and Gland Pharma, which slipped 0.67 per cent.

The Nifty Pharma index is currently trading 13.40 per cent below its all-time high level. Year-to-date (YTD), the index has declined by 11.57 per cent.

Stock Market Today: Nifty Snaps Two-Day Losing Streak

After starting the day on a negative note, Nifty quickly gained momentum and closed the day with a gain of 111.55 points, or 0.5 per cent, finishing at 22,508.75. During the session, the benchmark index touched an intraday high of 22,577.

"As the session progressed, profit booking led to a 100-point decline from the day’s high, reflecting market participants' cautious stance," said Sundar Kewat, Technical and Derivatives Analyst, Ashika Institutional Equity.

Among sectors, pharma, financial services, and auto emerged as the top gainers, while realty and FMCG ended the day in the red. In the broader market, both the Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 closed in green with 0.48 per cent and 0.70 per cent gains.