Sensex jumps 426 pts; pharma shares advance

The headline equity benchmarks traded with substantial gains in early afternoon trade, supported by positive global cues after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data eased concerns over further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Improved global risk sentiment and buying across frontline stocks lifted the domestic indices, with the Nifty trading above the 24,150 mark.

Investors will continue to monitor developments in the US-Iran conflict, movements in crude oil prices, the ongoing Q1 earnings season, corporate business updates, and the progress of the southwest monsoon for further cues on market direction.

Pharma shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 425.91 points or 0.55% to 77,480.85. The Nifty 50 index added 117.25 points or 0.49% to 24,169.15.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 0.67% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index climbed 0.85%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,428 shares rose and 1,573 shares fell. A total of 203 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives :

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 4.61% to 13.12. The Nifty 28 July 2026 futures were trading at 24,183.50 at a premium of 14.35 points as compared with the spot at 24,169.15.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 July 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 67.9 lakh contracts at the 25,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 63.9 lakh contracts was seen at a 24,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index jumped 0.74% to 26,099.75. The index rallied 1.77% in two consecutive trading sessions.

Zydus Lifesciences (up 2.75%), Mankind Pharma (up 2.67%), Ipca Laboratories (up 1.86%), Wockhardt (up 1.53%) and Divis Laboratories (up 1.5%) were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were Lupin (up 1.36%), Ajanta Pharma (up 1.33%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.82%), Cipla (up 0.76%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.73%) advanced.

On the other hand, Gland Pharma (down 1.07%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (down 0.94%) and Biocon (down 0.38%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Innovision rose 1.55% after the company announced that it had received a Letter of Award (LoA) worth Rs 205.20 crore for the collection of user fees at the Kishangarh Toll Plaza in Rajasthan.

Tata Elxsi dropped 4.93%. The company has reported 18.2% rise in net profit to Rs 170.6 crore on a 14.5% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,021.1 crore in Q1 FY27 as compared with Q1 FY26.

HBL Engineering advanced 1.94% after the company announced that it has secured an order worth Rs 24 crore from Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.

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