Equity benchmark indices recovered from the day’s low but continued to trade in negative territory during afternoon trade on Monday amid broad-based selling pressure across sectors.
The BSE Sensex traded 440.21 points or 0.59 per cent lower at 73,803.13 at around 12:36 pm after hitting an intraday low of 73,318.94. The Nifty 50 declined 145.25 points or 0.62 per cent to 23,221.45.
924 points, while the Nifty 50 fell more than 296 points from the previous close.
Broader markets remained under pressure, with small-cap indices continuing to trade nearly 1 per cent lower. Mid-cap indices, however, staged a mild recovery from intraday lows.
On the sectoral front, metal, realty and auto indices emerged as the worst performers, declining over 1 per cent each. but were off the day’s low. Meanwhile, healthcare, pharma, FMCG and media indices traded largely flat.
According to market experts, the pharma index has outperformed the broader market over the past month.
Max Healthcare, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra lead Nifty 50 pack
Among the Nifty 50 constituents, Max Healthcare, Power Grid, Apollo Hospitals and Tech Mahindra emerged as the top gainers. On the losing side, Wipro, IndiGo, Shriram Finance, Hindalco and Eternal declined between 2 per cent and 7 per cent.
Market breadth remained weak. Of the 3,256 stocks traded on the NSE at around 12:35 pm, 967 advanced, 2,187 declined and 102 remained unchanged.
Nearly 72 stocks touched their 52-week highs, while 63 hit fresh 52-week lows. Additionally, 75 stocks were locked in the upper circuit, while 95 hit the lower circuit limit.
Midcap and smallcap movers
In the mid-cap segment, Fortis Healthcare, Alkem Laboratories, Oil India, LG Electronics and Voltas gained between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. Meanwhile, GE Vernova T&D, Hitachi Energy, SAIL, Aditya Birla Capital and Kalyan Jewellers fell 3-4 per cent.
Among small-cap stocks, Netweb Technologies, IFCI, FSL and Urban Company declined 4-7 per cent, weighing on the index. On the other hand, Meesho, Syngene, Aster DM Healthcare, PWL and Karur Vysya Bank gained 3-4 per cent.
Jatin Gedia, Vice President – Technical Research at Teji Mandi, said the Nifty Pharma index has outperformed the broader market over the past month, delivering nearly 1 per cent returns even as most sectoral indices remained under pressure. On a year-to-date basis, the pharma index has gained around 7 per cent, making it the second-best performing sector during the volatile first half of calendar year 2026.
Gedia noted that pharma and FMCG stocks are traditionally viewed as defensive bets during periods of heightened market volatility. According to Gedia, the pharma sector has also benefited from the depreciation in the rupee, which has supported earnings sentiment. From a technical perspective, he said most pharma stocks continue to remain in an uptrend, with buying interest emerging on declines towards key support levels.
Gedia’s preferred picks in the pharma space include Laurus Labs, Zydus Life, Glenmark Pharma and Gland Pharma.