Pharma shares firm up in a rangebound market; Aurobindo Pharma up 3%

Aurobindo Pharma was the top Nifty gainer on USFDA approval for Rosuvastatin calcium tablets

Pharma shares emerged as the top gainers after the first hour of trade with Aurobindo Pharma leading the gains.

At 10:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 90 points at 27,877 and the Nifty50 was up 24 points at 8,553.

Aurobindo Pharma was up over 3% after the company received approval from the US drug regulator to manufacture and market Rosuvastatin Calcium tablets.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was also up over 1.5% on USFDA approval for Rosuvastatin Calcium tablets in dosages of 5 mg (base), 10 mg (base), 20 mg (base), and 40 mg (base).

Dr Reddy's Labs was up over 1% after the company recently announced the launch of Omeprazole and Sodium bicarbonate capsules in the U.S. Market.

Among others pharma shares, Lupin and Cipla were trading with marginal gains.

Financial Technologies slumped over 7% after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Tuesday ‘secured’ Rs 2,000 crore worth of real estate and financial assets for attachment. Financial Technologies is the parent company of the National Spot Exchange.
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(Updated at 9:40am)
Markets firmed up after a sluggish start on Wednesday led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

At 9:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 81 points at 27,868 and the Nifty50 was up 20 points at 8,549.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 550 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowerered India's economic growth projections by 0.1 percentage point to 7.4 per cent each for the current financial year and 2017-18, due to a slower investment revival than expected earlier. It has also lowered global economic growth by 0.1 percentage points each for 2016 and 2017 to 3.1 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively on Brexit impact.

Wipro was the top loser down over 4% after first quarter profits was lower-than-expected while subdued IT services revenue growth forecast for September quarter. Among others, Infosys was down nearly 1%. HCL Tech eased 1%.

ITC was trading nearly 1% higher ahead of its first quarter earnings on Thursday. Hindustan Unilever firmed up after on short covering after losses in the previous sessions amid volume growth concerns in the first quarter. For the second straight quarter, HUL reported only a four per cent volume growth in April-June 2016 quarter, lower than the six-seven per cent band it had seen in previous periods.

Reliance Industries extended gains and was up nearly 1%after the company reported a bigger-than-expected 18% jump in June quarter profit on account of highest refining margin in eight years and robust petrochemical earnings.


GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares retreated on Wednesday after US markets ended flat in overnight trades. Further, the cut in global growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund also dampened sentiment. IMF has lowered global economic growth by 0.1% points each for 2016 and 2017 to 3.1% and 3.4%, respectively. The Nikkei was down 0.6% while Shanghai Composite eased 0.2%. However, Straits Times and Hang Seng were trading 0.8% higher.

US stocks ended flat on Tuesday after sharp gains in the previous sessions which lifted the benchmark indices to record highs. The cut in global growth forecast by the IMF weighed on investor sentiment. The S&P 500 ended down 3 points at 2,164 while the Nasdaq slipped 19 points to settle at 5,036. However, the Dow Jones extended gains for the eight straight session to end 26 points higher at 18,559.