Business

Mankind, other pharma stocks rally up to 7%; Nifty Pharma scales fresh peak. What lies ahead?

Published

2 months ago

20 May 2026

Mankind, other pharma stocks rally up to 7%; Nifty Pharma scales fresh peak. What lies ahead?

Shares of pharma companies rallied up to 7% on Wednesday as strong earnings, a weakening rupee, and other supportive factors lifted investor sentiment, even as benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty traded in the red.

After opening lower, the Nifty Pharma index reversed losses and climbed nearly 1% to cross the 25,000 mark. The sectoral index also touched a fresh 52-week high of 25,043 during early trade before trimming some gains.

The Indian currency fell to 96.96 per dollar, breaching its all-time ‌low of 96.6150 ⁠hit ⁠in the previous session. The currency is down 6% since the Iran war began in late February. A falling rupee is typically considered a positive for the export-heavy pharma sector.

Top pharma gainers today

Zydus Lifesciences shares were the top gainers on the index, jumping over 7% to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,091 apiece on NSE after the pharma company reported a 9% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,272.5 crore for the January-March quarter of FY26. Revenue from operations, meanwhile, rose more than 16% YoY to Rs 7,587 crore during the quarter under review.Along with the Q4 results, Zydus Lifesciences announced its biggest-ever share buyback worth Rs 1,100 crore via the tender route at a buyback price of Rs 1,150 per share, offering nearly a 13% premium over the stock’s previous closing price. Its board has also recommended a final dividend of Re 1 per share (100%) on a face value of Re 1 each, subject to shareholders’ approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for August 11.

Mankind Pharma shares followed, surging over 3%. This comes after the company reported a 32% YoY rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 554 crore for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2026, from Rs 421 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The firm’s revenue from operations rose 12% YoY to Rs 3,443 crore during the quarter under review.
Laurus Labs, Aurobindo Pharma, and Biocon shares gained around 1% each, while those of Lupin, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Torrent Pharma, and Divi’s Laboratories were trading in the green with marginal gains, as seen at 11 am. Bucking the trend, however, Ajanta Pharma, Piramal Pharma, Gland Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Abbot India, Glenmark, Alkem Labs, and IPCA Labs shares fell up to 1%.

What lies ahead?

Nifty Pharma’s technical structure remains constructive after the index touched a fresh 52-week high today, according to Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVasset PMS, who said that this is significant as it has come at a time when the broader market is still dealing with global risk-off pressure, currency weakness, and uneven earnings delivery. The relative strength in pharma counters suggests capital is rotating into sectors with better earnings visibility, not merely chasing momentum, he added.“The index has been forming a clear higher-high, higher-low pattern, and the latest breakout keeps the medium-term trend in favour of buyers as long as it holds above the recent breakout zone. The immediate support now sits around 24,700 to 24,800, while a stronger cushion is visible near 24,400. A close below that band would weaken the breakout and indicate profit-booking rather than trend continuation,” according to Dasani.

The risk-reward remains favourable, but the entry point is no longer fresh after a sharp move, the analyst said. “The cleaner setup would come on controlled pullbacks rather than vertical rallies. The key confirmation from here is breadth. If participation remains broad across large pharma, domestic formulations and speciality businesses, the breakout could extend. If leadership narrows, the index may pause before attempting the next leg,” he added.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Business

M-cap of 6 of top-10 most valued firms surges Rs 1 lakh cr; Airtel, Bajaj Fin top winners

Published

6 minutes ago

5 July 2026

NewsAdmin

M-cap of 6 of top-10 most valued firms surges Rs 1 lakh cr; Airtel, Bajaj Fin top winners

The combined market valuation of 6 of the top-10 most valued firms surged by Rs 1 lakh crore last week, with Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance emerging as the biggest gainers, amid a largely positive trend in equities.

Last week, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 663.44 points, or 0.86 per cent, and the NSE Nifty rose 214.85 points, or 0.89 per cent.

Markets ended the week on a firm footing, supported by resilient domestic macroeconomic indicators, healthy GST collections and improving industrial activity, Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

“Expectations of a more accommodative global monetary policy following softer-than-expected US labour market data further strengthened investor sentiment,” he added.

The market valuation of Bharti Airtel jumped Rs 36,529.21 crore to Rs 11,63,877.30 crore, the most among the top-10 firms.

Bajaj Finance added Rs 33,059.83 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 6,43,141.36 crore.
ICICI Bank‘s valuation surged Rs 16,084.29 crore to Rs 10,11,695.03 crore, and that of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) climbed Rs 8,601.99 crore to Rs 5,44,139.55 crore.The market capitalisation (mcap) of HDFC Bank rallied Rs 7,664.89 crore to Rs 12,33,646.33 crore, and that of Hindustan Unilever edged higher by Rs 6,461.38 crore to Rs 5,17,086.30 crore.

However, the mcap of Larsen & Toubro tumbled Rs 26,572.2 crore to Rs 5,53,978.63 crore.

The mcap of Reliance Industries eroded by Rs 18,945.56 crore to Rs 17,64,981.36 crore, and that of State Bank of India (SBI) declined by Rs 4,846.08 crore to Rs 9,59,891.92 crore.

The market valuation of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) dipped by Rs 1,031.15 crore to Rs 7,57,175.27 crore.

Reliance Industries remained the country’s most valued firm, followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, LIC and Hindustan Unilever.

Business

Safran: I Forecast It Will Follow Rheinmetall Down (OTCMKTS:SAFRY)

Published

13 minutes ago

5 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Safran headquarters building in Paris, France

Wolf Report is a senior analyst and private portfolio manager with over 10 years of generating value ideas in European and North American markets, and the owner of Wolf of Value, a service focusing on international dividend-paying value investments.He further covers the markets of Scandinavia, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe in search of reasonably valued stock ideas.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of FINMY either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Business

This Bull Market Should Charge Into 2027

Published

19 minutes ago

5 July 2026

NewsAdmin

ITWO: Russell 2000 Covered Call Strategy That Outperforms Its Peers (BATS:ITWO)

Lawrence Fuller has been managing portfolios for individual investors for 30 years, starting his career at Merrill Lynch in 1993 and working in the same capacity with several other Wall Street firms before realizing his long-term goal of complete independence when he founded Fuller Asset Management. He also manages the Focused Growth portfolio on the new fintech platform called Dub, which is the first copy-trading platform approved by securities regulators in the US, allowing retail investors to copy the portfolio and ongoing trades of the manager they choose automatically. You can also find him on Substack and lawrencefuller.substack.com.He is the leader of the investing group The Portfolio Architect, which focuses on an overall economic and market outlook that complements an all-weather investment strategy designed to produce consistent risk-adjusted market returns. Features include: Portfolio construction guidance, access to an “All-Weather” model portfolio and a dividend and options income portfolio, a daily brief summarizing current events, a week ahead newsletter, technical and fundamental reports, trade alerts, and 24/7 chat. Learn More.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of RSP, IWM either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Lawrence Fuller is the Principal of Fuller Asset Management (FAM), a state registered investment adviser. He is also the manager of the Focused Growth portfolio on the copy-trading platform Dubapp.com. Information presented is for educational purposes only intended for a broad audience. The information does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale of purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. FAM has reasonable belief that this marketing does not include any false or material misleading statements or omissions of facts regarding services, investment, or client experience. FAM has reasonable belief that the content as a whole will not cause an untrue or misleading implication regarding the adviser’s services, investments, or client experiences. Past performance of specific investment advice should not be relied upon without knowledge of certain circumstances or market events, nature and timing of investments and relevant constraints of the investment. FAM has presented information in a fair and balanced manner. FAM is not giving tax, legal, or accounting advice.
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