Barometers pare gains; Nifty below 24,600 level; pharma shares in demand

The key equity indices reversed all gains and traded with limited cuts in the mid-morning trade, as investors remained cautious ahead of a crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, which is widely expected to announce rate cuts on a range of goods.

The Nifty traded below the 24,600 level. Pharma shares advanced after declining for previous five consecutive trading sessions.

At 11:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 53.17 points or 0.07% to 80,102.58. The Nifty 50 index fell 6.45 points or 0.03% to 24,573.20.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.27% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.83%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,496 shares rose and 1,312 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index was up from 60.5 in July to 62.9 in August. This indicated the steepest rate of expansion since June 2010. Demand buoyancy, efficiency gains and greater inflows of new business were some of the reasons firms gave for the upturn.

August data highlighted a broad-based pick-up in growth of output across India's manufacturing and service sectors. Subsequently, the HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index rose from 61.1 in July to 63.2 in August, indicating the sharpest pace of expansion in over 17 years.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Amanta Healthcare received bids for 21,95,93,913 shares as against 70,00,000 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:15 IST on Wednesday (3 September 2025). The issue was subscribed 31.37 times.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.12% to 21,962.55. The index shed 0.42% in the previous five trading sessions.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 3.36%), Lupin (up 1.68%), Laurus Labs (up 1.53%), Cipla (up 1.39%) and Biocon (up 1.15%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 0.86%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.86%), Gland Pharma (up 0.61%), Granules India (up 0.59%) and Divis Laboratories (up 0.53%) added.

On the other hand, Natco Pharma (down 0.59%), Ipca Laboratories (down 0.49%) and Ajanta Pharma (down 0.11%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Quadrant Future Tek advanced 2.50% after the company announced that it has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) worth Rs 128.91 crore from RailTel Corporation of India.

TBO Tek surged 12.79% after the company announced its agreement to acquire US based Classic Vacations from Phoenix-based investment firm, The Najafi Companies, for an estimated total purchase of up to $125 million.

Global Markets:

Asian market traded largely lower on Wednesday as investors weighed the impact of climbing global bond yields alongside fresh signals from ongoing trade negotiations and geopolitical tensions.

Chinese markets were in focus following President Xi Jinping?s speech at a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The event was graced by 26 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea?s leader Kim Jong Un.

Meanwhile, Australia?s second-quarter GDP grew 1.8% year over year, marking the fastest pace of growth since September 2023. The latest reading was higher than the 1.3% seen in the previous quarter.

Overnight stateside, all three key benchmarks ended the day lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 249.07 points, or 0.55% to close at 45,295.81. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.69% to settle at 6,415.54, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.82% to close at 21,279.63.

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