Sensex Turns Choppy, Pharma Stocks Fall

The BSE benchmark Sensex turned choppy in the afternoon deals on Tuesday. Meanwhile, selling pressure was visible in pharma, IT, auto and FMCG stocks.

The 50-share Nifty was trading above its important psychological level of 8,400 supported by buying visible in the private sector banking stocks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes bank.

The Indian benchmark indices were trading on a highly volatile note. India VIX a gauge of volatility in the markets was up 2.85 per cent. The Sensex at one point fell nearly 300 points from the intraday high levels and the Nifty fell below 8,400 levels.

The Indian rupee which fell to over one-month low of 63.16 against dollar in the morning deals also showcased a smart recovery and at 1:45 p.m., rupee was quoting at 62.84 against the US dollar.

On Dalal Street, selling pressure was visible in the pharma stocks. Shares of Sun Pharma slumped over 10 per cent to hit intraday low of Rs 930 after Daichi Sankyo planned to sell its 8.9 per cent stake in Sun Pharma via block deal.

The CNX pharma index was the top sectoral loser, down 4 per cent. Other pharma stocks such as Dr Reddy's Labs, Glenmark, Lupin and Cipla were also trading 1-3 per cent lower.

HCL Technologies fell as much as 10 per cent to Rs 835 after the Noida-based outsourcer missed profit estimates for the March quarter. HCL Tech reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,683 crore on revenues of 9,267 crore in its fiscal third quarter.

Maruti Suzuki, HUL, Hindalco, HDFC, State Bank of India, Ambuja Cements and GAIL India were also among the laggards.

On the other hand, Axis bank, ICICI Bank, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Zee Entertainment, Yes Bank and Coal India were among the top gainers, up 1.2-2.6 per cent each.

At 1:47 p.m., the Sensex was down 25 points at 27,809 and the Nifty slipped 25 points to 8,423.