SENSEX, NIFTY50 fall for third straight session amid heightened volatility owing to November F&O expiry

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for a third straight session on Tuesday, November 25. The benchmarks traded in a narrow band for most part of the day but turned highly volatile in the last hour of the session as monthly stocks and NIFTY50 futures and option contracts for the month of November expired.

The SENSEX dropped as much as 363 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,857 after hitting a high of 26,033 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like ITC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The SENSEX ended 314 points lower at 84,587 and NIFTY50 index dropped 75 points to settle at 25,885.

In the November futures and option series NIFTY50 index ended 0.2% lower, data from the NSE showed.

Sectoral picture

Nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the NSE ended lower led by NIFTY Media index's 0.8% fall. IT, media, FMCG, financial services, auto, private banking and consumer durables shares also faced selling pressure.

On the other hand, NIFTY Realty index, jumped 1.62%. PSU bank, metal, pharma, healthcare stocks saw buying interest.

Broader markets outperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 0.36% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 0.2%.

Among the individual shares, Surya Roshni soared as much as 3.81% after bagging a supply order approximating ₹105 crore.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals surged as much as 2.78% to an intra-day high of ₹1,893.60 apiece after it launched the world's first nebulised, fixed-dose triple therapy for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the drugmaker said in a regulatory filing.

The company launched Nebzmart GFB Smartules and Airz FB Smartules, which combine three proven medicines, including Glycopyrronium, Formoterol, and Budesonide, to reduce airway obstruction, inflammation, and improve lung function and symptom control, it said.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Adani Enterprises was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 2.91% to close at ₹2,329. Tata Motors PV, Trent, Infosys, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank also dropped between 0.8%-1.6%.

On the flipside, Bharat Electronics was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock advanced 1.58% to close at ₹410 after inking a joint venture cooperation agreement (JVCA) with France’s Safran Electronics and Defence (SED).

The two defence companies signed the agreement for the production of the Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (HAMMER) Smart Precision Guided Air-to-Ground Weapon in India.

On February 11, BEL and SED signed an MoU during Aero India to incorporate a potential joint venture company (JVC) in the country. The two signing the JVCA formalised the intent, the Indian Ministry of Defence said in a press release on November 24.

State Bank of India shares rose as much as 1.89% to hit a record high of ₹988.95.

Dr Reddy's Labs ended 0.8% higher after it received the European Commission’s approval for the AVT03 (denosumab) drug, a biosimilar of Prolia and Xgeva.

“Prolia is a prescription medicine used to treat osteoporosis in women who have been through menopause and in men who are at increased risk of fractures, bone loss linked to hormone ablation in men with prostate cancer at increased risk of fractures and bone loss associated with long-term treatment with systemic glucocorticoids,” the company said in a regulatory filing dated November 24.

Furthermore, Xgeva is a prescription medicine used to prevent bone complications in adults with advanced cancer involving bone. It is also used for the treatment of adults and skeletally mature adolescents with giant cell tumour of bone.

Hindalco, Shriram Finance, SBI Life, HDFC Life, Tata Steel and Eternal were also among the gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 2,095 shares ended higher while 2,076 closed lower on the BSE.