The Indian stock market saw muted trading on April 9 but the pharma index outperformed gaining more than 3 percent. The Sensex was down 146.14 points, or 0.29 percent, at 49,600.07 and the Nifty was down 41.10 points, or 0.28 percent, at 14,832.70.
Among the sectors, the pharma index added over 3 percent supported by Sun Pharma, Divis Labs, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma.
PSU banking stocks also saw buying with Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank of India rising more than 10 percent. Other gainers were IOB, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, UCO Bank and J&K Bank.
On the other hand, metal, energy, auto and infra sectors witnessed selling pressure.
More than 200 stocks have hit a 52-week high on BSE. These included Vimta Labs, Pidilite Industries, Mindtree, NMDC, JK Lakshmi Cement, Infosys, India Cements, Cipla, Dabur India and Aurionpro Solutions.
The rupee erased some of the intraday losses but was still trading low at 74.77 per dollar amid a volatile day of trading.
“The rupee is near a crucial level of 75.10/20, which, if broken, we can see a swift move to 76.90 the previous high. This is 61.9 percent retracement from 76.90,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head- Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.
“Today RBI has till now protected 74.95 level like yesterday. Exporters can continue to hold positions with a stop at 74.50. Importers need to keep buying the dips,” he added.
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