Barometers trade in negative terrain; pharma shares under pressure

The key equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in early afternoon trade. Market witnessed subdued volatility and concentrated option open interest signaling limited near-term movement. Investors will keep track on FII outcome, domestic and global economic data, and global cues. Nifty hovered below 26,100 level.

Pharma shares tumbled for third straight session.

At 12:25 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 308.73 points or 0.36% to 85,104.61. The Nifty 50 index dropped 79.30 points or 0.30% to 26,063.35.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.19% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.04%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,848 shares rose and 2,140 shares fell. A total of 205 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.48% to 9.15. The Nifty 30 December 2025 futures were trading at 26,081.50, at a premium of 18.15 points as compared with the spot at 26,063.35.

The Nifty option chain for the 30 December 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 285 lakh contracts at the 26,100 strike price. Maximum put OI of 196.4 lakh contracts was seen at 26,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index declined 0.39% to 22,668.10. The index declined 1.13% in the three consecutive trading sessions.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.66%), Piramal Pharma (down 1.29%), Ajanta Pharma (down 0.79%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.75%), Ipca Laboratories (down 0.67%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 0.65%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 0.61%), Mankind Pharma (down 0.53%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.5%) and Lupin (down 0.1%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NTPC rose 0.95%. The company announced the commercial operation of the remaining 13 MW of its 23 MW Solapur Solar PV Project in Maharashtra, taking the project to full capacity.

Apollo Micro Systems climbed 2.17% after the company received orders amounting to Rs 100.24 crore from a private company for the supply of Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Panacea Biotec surged 14.66% after it has received an award from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for the supply of its WHO pre-qualified pentavalent vaccine, Easyfive-TT, for 2023'2027.

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