Sensex jumps 400 points, Nifty holds above 23,050; pharma stocks rally

The key equity benchmarks traded with firm gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty held above the 23,050 mark, supported by buying interest in pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks. However, elevated crude oil prices and renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to pose risks to the market. Brent crude remained above $116 per barrel amid concerns over supply disruptions, keeping investors cautious about inflation and the impact on India's import bill.

At 13:30 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 400.50 points or 0.54% to 74,551.54. The Nifty 50 index rose 118.45 points or 0.52% to 23,055.20.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The Nifty MidCap 150 Index declined 0.81% and the Nifty SmallCap 250 Index fell 1.72%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,374 shares rose and 2,791 shares fell. A total of 249 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 2.34% to 15.47.

Buzzing Segment:

The Nifty Pharma index advanced 1.70% to 27,164.35. Among the index constituents, Laurus Labs (up 5.49%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 4.44%), Ajanta Pharma (up 3.64%), Sai Life Sciences (up 3.06%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 2.41%) emerged as the top gainers. Other notable advancers included Mankind Pharma (up 1.90%), Cipla (up 1.29%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.27%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.25%) and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.06%).

On the other hand, Wockhardt declined 1.58%, followed by Abbott India (down 1.38%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.18%).

Stocks In Spotlight:

Equitas Small Finance Bank shares slumped 12%, despite the lender reporting its highest-ever quarterly net profit of Rs 218.04 crore for Q2 FY27. The sharp sell-off followed the resignation of managing director and CEO P. N. Vasudevan, with concerns over leadership succession and a perceived conflict of interest weighing on investor sentiment. The board has asked him to continue as MD and CEO until a successor takes charge. The bank's profit after tax surged 803.23% year-on-year and 18.75% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 218.04 crore in Q2 FY27, compared with Rs 24.14 crore in Q2 FY26 and Rs 183.61 crore in Q1 FY27. Total income increased 27.69% year-on-year and 6.41% sequentially to Rs 2,357.51 crore.

Interglobe Aviation (Indigo) jumped 3.14% after the company?s consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 1,878.6 crore in Q2 FY27 compared with net loss of Rs 2,581.7 crore in Q2 FY26. Revenue from operations increased 25.91% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 23,363.8 crore in the quarter ended 30 September 2026, supported by disciplined capacity deployment and yield management.

Global Market:

European shares traded mostly higher on Friday, supported by gains in energy and select heavyweight stocks.

Asian equities came under pressure on Friday, with artificial intelligence-related shares leading losses after disappointing results from U.S. technology companies, while the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady at 1.25% as expected. The BOJ also upgraded its inflation forecast for its fiscal year 2027 to 2.6% from 2.4%, with the so-called core-core inflation forecast also raised to 2.7% from 2.6%.

US stocks ended lower on Thursday, as disappointing technology earnings and concerns over AI investment returns weighed on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 132.54 points, or 0.25%, to 52,342.56. The S&P 500 fell 23.59 points, or 0.30%, to 7,720.39, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 365.13 points, or 1.38%, to 26,184.72.

Alphabet shares plunged 12.64% on Thursday, marking their worst daily decline on record, after its third-quarter revenue missed market expectations. Revenue increased 25% year on year to $127.58 billion, against the analyst estimate of $127.97 billion. Earnings per share stood at $2.12, below expectations of approximately $2.94.

Google Cloud revenue surged 103% to $30.7 billion, but concerns over heavy AI-related capital expenditure and the returns from these investments overshadowed the growth.

ServiceNow and Fortinet also faced heavy selling following their financial updates. Both stocks declined more than 20%, adding to pressure on the technology sector.

After the US market close, Intel shares plunged more than 17% in extended trading after the company issued a weaker-than-expected outlook. Intel reported third-quarter revenue of $16.5 billion, up 21% year on year, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.52. It forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.25.

Amazon shares fell more than 5% in extended trading despite strong cloud growth. Third-quarter net sales increased 12% to $201.94 billion, while AWS revenue rose 39% to $46 billion. Operating income increased to $28.08 billion from $17.42 billion a year earlier.

However, trailing 12-month free cash flow turned negative at $42.36 billion, compared with positive free cash flow of $14.79 billion a year earlier. Amazon maintained its 2026 capital expenditure forecast of approximately $220 billion. Its fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $240 billion to $247 billion also disappointed investors.

The US economy expanded at an annualised rate of 3.4% in the third quarter of 2026, according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday. This compared with growth of 2.2% in the second quarter and exceeded the approximately 3% market forecast.

Consumer spending rose at a 3.8% annualised rate, while business investment also contributed to growth. Investment in information-processing equipment increased sharply, reflecting continued spending on AI-related infrastructure. The GDP figure is preliminary and subject to revision.

Meanwhile, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, increased 0.5% month on month in September, compared with 0.3% in August. Annual inflation accelerated to 3.6% from 3.4%.

Core PCE inflation, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% month on month and 3.1% year on year, compared with 3.0% in August. The monthly increases were in line with market expectations.

Personal consumption expenditure increased 0.5% in September, while real consumer spending was unchanged. The data indicated that inflationary pressures remained elevated despite resilient economic growth.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News