The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with limited losses in mid-afternoon trade, as investor sentiment turned cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions following a deadly terrorist attack on tourists in Kashmir. The incident cast a shadow over the markets, with escalating tensions between India and Pakistan triggering a risk-off mood.
Meanwhile, the ongoing earnings season has done little to lift the mood, with a slew of companies missing estimates and reporting weaker-than-expected numbers, adding another layer of caution to an already jittery market.
The Nifty slipped below the 24,150 mark. Pharma shares declined after witnessing buying demand for three consecutive trading sessions.
At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 377.19 points or 0.47% to 79,428.77. The Nifty 50 index lost 139.60 points or 0.58% to 24,107.10.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.96% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 2.23%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 656 shares rose and 3,257 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index declined 2.02% to 21,530.50. The index jumped 5.27% in the past five trading session.
Biocon (down 4.02%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 3.86%), Granules India (down 3.68%), Ajanta Pharma (down 3.38%), Alkem Laboratories (down 2.99%) Lupin (down 2.88%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 2.7%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 2.49%), J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (down 2.2%) and Divis Laboratories (down 2.18%) declined.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 2.42% to 6.473 as compared with the previous close of 6.417.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.4125, compared with its close of 85.3300 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for the 5 June 2025 settlement fell 0.77% to Rs 95,169.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.41% to 99.70.
The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.14% to 4.299.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2025 settlement declined 16 cents or 0.24% to $66.39 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Nelco tumbled 5.90% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 4.08 crore in Q4 FY25 as against a net profit of Rs 6.10 crore in Q4 FY24. Total income stood at Rs 70.16 crore in Q4 FY24, registering a decline of 14.79% from Rs 82.34 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.
L&T Technology Services (LTTS) dropped 4.93% after its consolidated net profit declined 3.5% to Rs 311.1 crore in Q4 FY25, compared to Rs 322.4 crore in Q3 FY25. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,982.4 crore in the March 2025 quarter, marking a 12.42% increase from Rs 2,653.0 crore reported in the previous quarter.