Most pharma shares dropped, dragging the BSE Healthcare index down by 2.14 per cent after Trump's move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs from October 1. Wockhardt shares tanked 9.4 per cent.
The BSE Healthcare Index is up 19 per cent as compared to BSE Sensex returns of 11 per cent during this period. Nitin Agarwal of DAM Capital highlighted this trend in a report last month. "After a sustained period of underperformance over FY21-23, the BSE Healthcare Index has once again captured the spotlight. "The recent uptick in performance has been driven by hospitals and emerging green shoots in pharmaceutical exports, particularly to the US, along with sustaining momentum in domestic branded formulations," he said.
However, experts caution that investors should not expect the big returns they got from the sector between March and September 2020.
Sectorally, BSE healthcare, capital goods, power, oil and gas, metal, auto, energy and banking indices fell up to 3.53 per cent.
Stock market barometers Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Monday as rise in wholesale inflation capped early gains despite a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share index settled 32.02 points or 0.05 per cent higher at 60,718.71 with half of its constituents ending in green. The broad based Nifty edged up 6.70 points or 0.04 per cent to close at 18,109.45.
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.81 per cent, followed by M&M, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank and Titan.
On the Sensex chart, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were among the prominent gainers.
The S&P BSE 500 index, which accounts for 94% market capitalisation of BSE listed companies, has gained 45% from its March 24 low. However, out of the BSE 500 index stocks, 225 have underperformed the index by gaining less than the broader index during this period.
India's largest pharma companies by market capitalisation Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Cipla have seen their share prices drop 5-20 per cent over the last two weeks on results that were below Street expectations.
The US healthcare reform bill with its focus on cutting costs is likely to be beneficial for generic and CRAMS players.
The NSE Nifty ended at 2,926, down 9 points. The market breadth was marginally negative - out of 2,507 stocks traded, 1,263 declined, 1,138 advanced and 106 were unchanged on Wednesday.
The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 66 points at 12,691.
The BSE Smallcap and Midcap indices, however, finished with gains of over 1% each at 9472 and 12,195, respectively.
The markets opened flat on the back of weak Asian and US cues
The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 34 points at 7,815, and touched a high of 7,846 in early noon deals.
BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices registered an uptick of 0.06%, and 0.05%, respectively
Sun Pharma stole the show in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.91 per cent, followed by M&M at 2.87 per cent.
In the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank emerged as the top gainer by rising 0.97 per cent, while Tata Steel advanced 0.92 per cent.
It, however, was a record-smashing week for both the indices, which scaled their lifetime highs.
IT, pharma and FMCG stocks are the top performers in 2013.
Sun Pharma was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, advancing 1.79 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty too reclaimed the key 11,500-mark. It touched a high of 11,562.25, before finally settling at 11,536.90, showing a gain of 59.95 points, or 0.52 per cent.
Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 ended with losses while NTPC ended flat at Rs 127.30.
The broader NSE Nifty too dived by 101.65 points, or 0.97 per cent, to close at 10,350.15.
The NSE Nifty too recovered over 100 points, or 0.96 per cent, to end at 10,576.85.
The 30-share Sensex gained 117 points to end above 29,000 at 29,006 while the 50-share Nifty gained 32 points to close at 8,761.
S&P BSE Sensex settled at 31,170, up 60 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at record high for third straight session. It ended at 9,624, up 19 points.
n the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.3% each.
The Sensex and Nifty remained above their key levels of 36,000 and 10,900 throughout the session, indicating strong investor optimism after a prolonged spell of caution.
Sensex, Nifty end the day in red ahaead of F&O expiry.
The turmoil on the Street and a continued fall of the rupee may affect growth stocks, pushing equity investors back to the relative safety of defensive counters, or forcing them to flee markets, or both.
Bharti Airtel , RCom and Tata Communications ended down between 0.1-1%.
Banking shares saw a renewed buying interest on the hopes of a rate-cut by the central bank post the easing of macro-economic data.
Better-than-expected financial results in Q3 due to higher revenue growth and margins in key markets fuel the rally
Markets finished lower for the sixth consecutive day as hopes of the Goods and Services tax (GST) bill being passed in the current session of the Parliament faded considerably.
The Sensex ended up 48 points at 28,386 and the Nifty gained 13 points to close at 8,476.
FMCG stocks have underperformed the market, falling 2.2 per cent so far in 2014.
The recovery was led by pharma majors led by Dr Reddy's Labs.
Geopolitical concerns, earnings sees investors rush to safe haven plays post the Union Budget presentation in July.