Nifty Pharma under pressure on broad-based selloff; Granules shed over 7%; Laurus Labs, Strides among top bears

17 Jan 2022 , 02:15 PM

Pharma company stocks were broadly under pressure on Monday as corporate earnings season takes focus. Nifty Pharma index witnessed a broad-based selloff and has tumbled by nearly 1% since the beginning of trade. Also, investors monitored the impact of a resurgence in Covid-19 cases that is fueled by the Omicron variant.

The index has touched an intraday high and low of 13,970.15 and 13,819.70 respectively.

At around 1.52 pm, Nifty Pharma was trading at 13,879.55 lower by 84.60 points or 0.61%. On the index, 3 scrips advanced and 17 scrips declined.

Top bulls were – IPCA Lab, NATCO Pharma and Divis Lab surging between 0.3-1%.

Under the bearish list, Granules took lead with a nosedive of over 7% followed by Laurus Labs dipping nearly 3%. Strides Pharma dived nearly 2%.

Stocks like Lupin, Aurobindo Pharma, Alkem, Cipla and Cadila Healthcare tumbled more than 1% each. Gland Pharma and Torrent Pharma slipped over 0.6% each.

Stocks like Alembic Pharma, Sun Pharma, Biocon, Pfizer, Abbot India and Dr Reddy’s Lab shed between 0.3-0.5%. Glenmark traded flat but in the red.

In the sector, Biocon is set to announce its financial performance for Q3 on January 20, while Gland Pharma is scheduled on January 21. Cipla is set to present its Q3 earnings on January 25 and Dr Reddy’s Lab on January 28, 2022.

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the administration of more than 39 lakh Doses (39,46,348) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 157.20 Cr (1,57,20,41,825) as per provisional reports till 7 am today.

2,58,089 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Also, 8,209 Total Omicron cases detected so far; an increase of 6.02% since yesterday.