Equity indices volatile, pharma stocks in focus

Equity benchmark indices were in the green during early hours on Thursday amid volatile trade with buying witnessed across pharma sector.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 131 points or 0.23 per cent at 57,469 while the Nifty 50 rose by 49 points or 0.29 per cent to 17,125.

Sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty FMCG up by 1.2 per cent, pharma and realty by 1 per cent each, and metal by 0.6 per cent.

Among stocks, HDFC Life advanced by 2.8 per cent to Rs 739 per share while Dr Reddy's rose by 2.3 per cent and Cipla by 2.2 per cent.

The other major gainers were Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Britannia and UPL. But among the laggards were IndianOil Corporation, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets were in a cautious mood as concerns grew over the Chinese economy after a run of soft data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 per cent to a five-week high. Japan's Nikkei added 0.1 per cent while South Korea fell 0.6 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )