Market trim gains; pharma shares decline for 3rd day

The key equity benchmarks pared most of their early gains and traded with marginal gains in early afternoon trade, amid elevated crude oil prices and continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The Nifty traded below the 22,450 mark, while investor sentiment remained cautious amid weak global cues.

Pharma shares extended their losing streak for the third consecutive trading session.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex added 79.60 points or 0.13% to 72,008.23. The Nifty 50 index rose 33.15 points or 0.12% to 22,446.20.

In the broader market, the Nify MidCap 150 Index shed 0.10% and the Nifty SmallCap 250 Index fell 0.02%.

The market breadth was negative. On the NSE, 1,557 shares rose and 1,907 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

RBI MPC begins 3-day meeting

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its 3-day meeting today, 5 October 2026, to deliberate on interest rates and assess inflation, economic growth and financial conditions. The meeting will conclude on 7 October 2026, with markets closely watching whether the RBI will raise the repo rate for the first time since February 2023.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 4% to 14.03. The Nifty 27 October 2026 futures were trading at 22,551.50 at a premium of 105.30 points as compared with the spot at 22,446.20.

The Nifty option chain for the 27 October 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 85.7 lakh contracts at the 23,500 strike price. A maximum put OI of 45.7 lakh contracts was seen at the 22,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index declined 0.92% to 26,068.85. The index fell 3.21% in the two straight trading sessions.

Wockhardt (down 3.42%), Abbott India (down 2.72%), Sai Life Sciences (down 2.41%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 2.14%), Mankind Pharma (down 1.41%), Laurus Labs (down 1.39%), Divis Laboratories (down 1.32%), Zydus Lifesciences (down 1.27%), Biocon (down 1.27%) and Ajanta Pharma (down 1.02%) declined.

Stock in Spotlight:

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles rallied 2.76% after its wholly owned subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), reported a 24.54% year-on-year (YoY) increase in wholesales to 82,400 units in Q2 FY27 from 66,165 units in Q2 FY26.

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