Sensex dips 100 pts, Nifty near 21700; Pharma pack soars

Equity benchmark indices opened with losses on Tuesday as most markets in Asia began the new trading year on a weak note.

The BSE Sensex fell 110 points to 72,160 and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 22 points to 21,719.

Ultratech Cement, HUL, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Eciher Motors and Grasim led losses on the fronltine indices.

On the flip side, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, and Power Grid were among the few gainers on the Sensex and Nifty.

The broader markets outperformed with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices holding gains of up to 0.3 per cent.

Nifty Pharma index staged a sharp rally, rising nearly 2 per cent, while other sectoral pockets remained muted.

Among stocks, Alembic Pharma surged 7 per cent on receiving eight product approvals from the US FDA during Q3.