NIFTY50 opens below 26,000, SENSEX down 227 points as pharma stocks drag; Dr Reddy’s falls 4%

The Indian stock market opened lower on Thursday, October 30, weighed down by metal and pharma stocks amid mixed global cues.

Investors’ sentiment was also dampened as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), led by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, raised doubts over another rate cut in December. By a 10-2 vote on Wednesday, the Fed lowered the borrowing rate to a range of 3.75%-4%.

The broader market was seen in green in the early session, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.03% and 0.10%, respectively.

Among sectors, Nifty Pharma led the declines, slipping 1.10%, followed by Nifty FMCG (-0.45%) and Nifty Metal (-0.41%). On the other hand, Nifty Realty (0.32%), Nifty Media (0.14%), and Nifty Auto (0.10%) managed to open in the green.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹2,540.16 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹5,692.81 crore on a net basis.

Globally, most of the Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and as investors waited to see if US and Chinese leaders could reach out for a trade deal. Trump is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later today.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.51%, Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.26%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.49%, and South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.83%.

Wall Street saw mixed results, with the Dow Jones ending 0.16% lower, the S&P 500 remaining unchanged, and the Nasdaq advancing 0.55%, following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's dampening of expectations for another interest rate cut by the central bank in December.

As many as 2,687 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,262 advanced, 1,347 declined, and 78 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

Meanwhile, 53 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 17 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 37 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 22 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 12.11 levels, rising 1.14%.

Dr Reddy’s was the biggest laggard, declining 4.4%, followed by Sun Pharma (-1.4%), Bharti Airtel (-1.4%), ITC (-1.2%) and HDFC Life Insurance (-1%).

On the flip side, L&T (1.84%), Shriram Finance (0.81%), Adani Enterprises (0.61%), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (0.47%), and Eicher Motors (0.46%) were the top gaining stocks on the 50-share index.