Sensex slips 200 pts from day's high, Nifty below 22,500; mid, smallcap indices outperform

Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's, Trent, SBI Life Insurance, and Axis Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty.

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex held on to gains in the afternoon on March 17 but traded off their highs, setting up a positive start to the week. A sharp rise in pharma, auto, and banking stocks kept the momentum going, though weakness in IT and FMCG capped the upside.

At about 2:45 pm, the Sensex was up 270.30 points or 0.37 percent at 74,099.21, and the Nifty was up 90.30 points or 0.40 percent at 22,487.50. About 1499 shares advanced, 2185 shares declined, and 102 shares unchanged.

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The broader market, represented by the mid and small cap indices outperformed the frontline indices with gains 0.7 percent each. Despite today's performance, the two are down 15 and 20 percent respectively year-to-date. A host of analysts still believe that more pain is left in the space.

The market is expected to remain stable with a positive bias in the near term, supported by improving macroeconomic indicators and easing foreign investor outflow, experts say. India's recent outperformance against the US, along with a rebound in GDP growth to 6.2 percent in the third quarter of FY25, a rise in industrial production to five percent in January, and a drop in retail inflation to 3.61 percent in February, provide a strong foundation for the market. However, while these factors may support sentiment in the short term, they are unlikely to fuel a sustained rally.

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Among sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma was the top performer with gains of over 1 percent. Dr Reddy's and Cipla were the main drivers of the surge in today's session. Nifty Auto, Bank, Metal and Infra traded in a similar range of 0.7 percent each.

On the other hand, losers included FMCG, IT and Oil and Gas albeit marginally in the range of 0.2-0.3 percent.

SpiceJet shares, up over 7 percent in the morning, pared almost gains to trade just 2 percent higher in the afternoon. The company announced that its CEO and promoter Ajay Singh will infuse Rs 294.09 crore into the company via the promoter group company, Spice Healthcare. In a press release, SpiceJet announced that the fresh infusion will take place through the conversion of 13.14 crore warrants into 13.14 crore equity shares. This is set to increase the consolidated shareholding of the promoter group in the airline to 33.47 percent from the current 29.11 percent.

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In a much-needed respite, IndusInd Bank shares finally traded in the positive with gains of 2 percent as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a statement addressing speculation regarding IndusInd Bank Ltd, stating that the bank remains "well-capitalised and the financial position remains satisfactory". According to the RBI, IndusInd Bank reported a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 16.46 percent and a Provision Coverage Ratio of 70.2 percent for the quarter that ended December 31, 2024.

One Mobikwik Systems' share price fell over 6 percent as its three-month IPO lock-in today, unlocking 5 million shares, equivalent to 6 percent of its outstanding equity ended today. The total lock-in value of these shares is estimated at $16 million.

"Thursday’s trading pattern indicated some weakness, but other technical signals suggest the market could still move higher. On the weekly charts, a bearish reversal pattern has not fully taken shape, leaving room for further gains. Meanwhile, short-term charts show signs of recovery after recent declines," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said. "If the index manages to break above the 22,587-22,633 range, it could set the stage for a move toward 23,000. However, failure to do so or a drop below 22,319 could open the door to further declines, possibly toward 21,700," he added.

Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's, Trent, SBI Life Insurance, and Axis Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty. Laggards on the index included -- Britannia Industries, BPCL, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, and ITC.