Barometers at day's high; pharma stocks slump

The benchmark indices further extended gains and hit record high in afternoon trade. Sentiment was upbeat after US drug maker Pfizer said large-scale trials of its coronavirus vaccine showed it was more than 90% effective in preventing infection.

At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 522.22 points or 1.23% at 43,119.65. The Nifty 50 index spurted 126.80 points or 1.02% at 12,587.85.

In the afternoon trade, the Sensex hit a record high of 43,259.54 while the Nifty hit a record high of 12,624.50.

The broader market traded with minor losses. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.34%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.42%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,151 shares rose and 1,404 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 30 stocks advanced while 20 stocks declined.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 4,548.39 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,036.31 crore in the Indian equity market on 9 November 2020, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 5,09,13,451 with 12,63,089 deaths. India reported 5,01,214 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,27,059 deaths while 79,63,457 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Bihar Elections:

The National Democratic Alliance is surging ahead of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar polls on Tuesday as the counting of votes for the 243 assembly seats is underway. After initial trends showed a close neck-and-neck contest between the two rival alliances, the incumbent Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal United (JDU) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance seem to be leading in 128 seats, well above the halfway mark of 122.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index tumbled 4.09% to 11,196.80.

Cipla (down 6.73%), Cadila Healthcare (down 6.66%), Lupin (down 6.52%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (down 4.08%) and Divi's Laboratories (down 3.89%) slumped.

Pfizer surged 5.13% after the company's US-based parent said that its vaccine candidate against COVID-19 achieved success in first interim analysis from Phase 3 study.

The scrip jumped 19.46% to hit the day's high at Rs 5875 in early trade.

Gainers & Losers:

IndusInd Bank (up 9.01%), Bajaj Finance (up 8.81%), Bajaj Finserv (up 6.38%), HDFC (up 5.59%) and State Bank of India (up 5.58%) were top gainers in Nifty 50 index.

Cipla (down 6.29%), Tech Mahindra (down 6.03%), HCL Technologies (down 5.42%), Infosys (down 4.98%) and Nestle India (down 4.26%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.

Results Today:

GAIL India (up 2.95%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.28%) and Hindalco Industries (down 0.46%) are the Nifty50 companies that will announce their quarterly results today.

Tata Power Co (up 2.64%), Aarti Industries (down 1.35%) and Bata India (up 0.99%) will also announce quarterly results today.

Earnings Impact:

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) dropped 4.74% after the company reported a net loss of Rs 83.49 crore in Q2 September 2020, higher than net loss of Rs 63.16 crore in Q2 September 2019. Net sales during the quarter rose 2.6% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 17.64 crore. Total expenditure in Q2 September 2020 rose 24.8% to Rs 100.01 crore from Rs 80.11 crore in Q2 September 2019.

Akzo Nobel India fell 1.08%. The paints and coatings company's consolidated net profit soared 34.6% to Rs 66.28 crore on 4.3% decrease in net sales to Rs 606.86 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 58.1% to Rs 89.04 crore in Q2 September 2020 as against Rs 56.31 crore in Q2 September 2019. Current tax expense for the quarter surged 137.40% to Rs 14.65 crore as against Rs 6.17 crore in Q2 September 2019.

JK Cement rose 0.69%. The cement maker's consolidated net profit jumped 170% to Rs 221.56 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 81.9 crore in Q2 September 2019. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 1634.4 crore in Q2 September 2020, rising 24% year on year from Rs 1,317.63 crore in Q2 September 2019.

E.I.D. Parry (India) gained 1.33% after the sugar maker posted a 48% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 562.70 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 380.36 crore in Q2 September 2019. Net sales grew by 2.8% to Rs 5,836.21 crore in Q2 September 2020 from Rs 5,675 crore in Q2 September 2019. Profit before tax stood at Rs 748 crore in Q2 September 2020, higher by 54.4% from Rs 484.41 crore in Q2 September 2019. Total tax expense spiked 78% to Rs 185.35 crore in Q2 September 2020 over Q2 September 2019. EBITDA for Q2 September 2020 came at Rs 890 crore, registering a 31% rise year on year from Rs 681 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Stock in Spotlight:

Engineers India rallied 4.40% after the company said that its board will consider a share buyback on Thursday, 12 November 2020.

Global Markets:

The US Dow Jones Futures were up 135 points, indicating a positive start in Wall Street today.

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Tuesday as investors in the region reacted to positive developments overnight on the coronavirus vaccine front.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%. Authorities in China's financial hub of Shanghai have quarantined 186 people and conducted coronavirus tests on more than 8,000 after a freight handler at the city's main international airport tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, China's consumer price index rose 0.5% in October from a year ago, according to data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics. The producer price index for China declined 2.1% year-on-year in October, unchanged from a 2.1% drop in September.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 jumped on Monday as investors cheered trial data from drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech indicating their Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective. However, the Nasdaq Composite closed lower as traders rotated out of high-flying technology names that outperformed during the pandemic into more beaten-down value stocks.

While the vaccine study is still ongoing and requires approval, Pfizer and BioNTech said they had found no serious safety concerns so far and expected to seek U.S. emergency use authorization later this month.

The 90% effective rate from Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was better than what the market was expecting. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said that a vaccine that was 50% to 60% effective would be acceptable.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News