Last hour selloff drags Sensex from high points, Nifty gives up 10,800; pharma gains

Selling pressure gripped the market in final hour of trade, with indices giving up almost all of their gains. The Sensex slipped 226 points from the day’s high points to end the day just 40 points in the green. The Nifty gave up 10,800, which it had clocked and survived for the greater part of the day.

Selloff among midcaps as well as banking stocks dragged the markets lower on Monday. The Bank Nifty was off 200 points from its highs to close flat, while midcaps ended in the red.

The Sensex was up 39.80 points at 35,483 and the Nifty up 19.30 points at 10,787. The market breadth was positive with about 1517 shares have advanced, 1162 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers, while Tata Steel, Power Grid and UPL top the losers’ list.

As many as 65 stocks hit a fresh 52-week high on the BSE which include names like Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Pfizer, Bajaj Finance, Avenue Supermarts, AstraZeneca etc. among others.

Sectorally, the S&P BSE Telecom index rose 1.56 percent helped by gains in Bharti Airtel, followed by the S&P BSE Consumer Durable index which gained 1.03 percent, and the S&P BSE Healthcare index which rose 0.5 percent.

The S&P BSE Realty index slipped 0.7 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Metal index which was down 0.35 percent, and the S&P BSE oil & gas index slipped 0.2 percent.

The S&P BSE Midcap index slipped 0.09 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index rose 0.51 percent.

Among stocks

Shares of Inox Wind were lower by 2 percent after its auditor Patankar & Associates decided to quit as independent auditor of the firm in a letter dated June 8, citing time constraints.

Alembic Pharma gained 20 percent after the firm received an approval from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a drug used to treat major depressive disorder.

Shares of Sagar Cements were up 6 percent after the firm reported healthy sales trends for May. A standalone production jump of 15 percent for May at 1.84 lakh tonnes, and 18 percent jump in sales at 1.81 lakh tonnes is seen.

Avenue Supermarts, operator of DMart chain of outlets, surpassed a market capitalisation of Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time on Monday morning. The stock managed to gain 2 percent intraday, but ended flat.

Shares of Sun Pharma continued its gains from Friday, rising over a percent, after its Halol plant received a VAI status from US drug regulator. The status implies that the plant may not go a re-inspection by the regulator ahead.

Global update

Asian markets closed mostly higher even as investors looked to shrug off trade tensions as well as the landmark meet between US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Nikkei 225 turned more positive through the session, with the index closing higher by 0.48 percent, or 109.54 points, at 22,804.04.