Sensex jumps over 250 points, Nifty nears 18,000; Adani Enterprises tanks 4%; IT stocks in vogue

Indian shares struggled for direction on Monday on worries that the U.S. Fed would keep interest rates higher for longer while rising concerns after North Korea fired more ballistic missiles added to the dour mood.

Six of the 13 major sectoral indexes fell with pharma index losing nearly 1%. Cipla, the second highest weighted stock in the pharma index, tumbled nearly 7%, to a near-seven-month low after the company’s Pithampur unit received eight observations from U.S. drug regulator after inspection. The stock was the top Nifty 50 loser.

Beating the weak sentiment, Hindustan Unilever rose nearly 1% and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers after the FMCG major agreed to sell and divest brands in its foods business, including “Annapurna” and “Captain Cook.” Samvardhana Motherson climbed as much as 5.7% after French car parts maker Faurecia agreed to sell its SAS cockpit modules arm to Motherson Group.

The ongoing concerns over the future rate hiking path in the U.S. remained an overhang after official data showed a rise in export prices in January.

Investors await the minutes of the Fed’s meeting, due on Wednesday, to assess the U.S. central bank’s future rate hiking path. U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for a local holiday.

Meanwhile, North Korea fired two more ballistic missiles off its east coast earlier in the day after the country fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea off Japan’s west coast on Saturday and warned U.S. forces to halt their military drills in the pacific, keeping investors on edge.

Asian markets recovered from a mixed start, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.65%.