FIRST TRADE: Indices trim losses after opening with 0.5% cuts, Nifty tops 19,500; Mankind Pharma jumps over 7%

Stock markets today: Domestic equities started Thursday's trading session on a negative note as both benchmark indices, the S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, opened with around half a per cent cuts. However, they trimmed losses within minutes and were trading flat with a negative bias. At the time of writing this news, the 30-share index of the BSE was trading at 65,735.55, down 47 points, or 0.07 per cent while the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,514.90, down 12 points, or 0.06 per cent.

The results season thus far has been mixed with 18 Nifty companies beating estimates and 15 missing. However, the mid and small-cap space has seen earnings upgrades which have resulted in the continued rally in the space while the broader market takes a breather, said Jaykrishna Gandhi, Head - Business Development, Institutional Equities, Emkay Global Financial Services. 

China, on the other hand, has been grabbing eyeballs with the recent policy document by the NDRC which is now focusing more on retail growth and providing more boost to the economy while falling short of handing out stimulus. The US markets overall remain in a bit of an uncertain mode as valuations and a concentrated bunch of stocks have driven the market rally (largely driven by AI). "For the coming week, we expect the Indian market to take a breather along with some global weakness," the expert added.

Technical setup: "After closing below the important support level of 19,560 the Nifty can potentially test 19,100 levels of the overall global scenario remains weak," Gandhi said further. 

Among individual stocks, Mankind Pharma was the showstopper in the opening deals, as the stock rallied over 7 per cent after the company reported robust numbers for the June quarter.

At 9:44 am, as many as 36 stocks in the 50-blue-chip basket traded below the flatline. UPL, Titan, HDFC Life, Hindalco and Bajaj Finserv were the worst hit among the laggards, trading around 1-2 per cent lower. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Divi's Laboratories, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and NTPC were the top gainers, rising between 0.87 per cent and 2 per cent.

In the broader market Nifty Mid Cap 100 opened 0.1 per cent higher whereas Small Cap 100 opened 0.1 per cent lower.

Buzzing stocks 

Among the heavyweights, Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki and ONGC opened lower.

Delta Corp, Gujarat Gas, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) opened in read after posting Q1 results. 

Godrej Properties shares opened lower at Rs 1619 apiece after its board has approved Rs 155 crore for repair work in its completed housing project 'Godrej Summit' at Gurugram, in Haryana after chloride was found in concretes used in the buildings.

UltraTech Cement opened over 1 per cent lower at Rs 8230.1 apiece. 

Conversely, pharma stocks rallied with Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Divi's Laboratories up between 1 per cent to 2 per cent. 

Mankind Pharma stock opened over 7 per cent higher at Rs 1869.5 apiece after the company posted its June quarter numbers.

Campus Activewear opened over 1 per cent higher at Rs 295 apiece after bulk deals. 

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