Barometers off day's high; pharma stocks climb

Key equity Indices pared gains in morning trade. Buying was seen across the board with pharmaceutical stocks making the biggest up moves. Shares in other Asian markets edged cautiously higher on Wednesday following a slight decline in the number of new cases.

At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 231.17 points or 0.57% at 41,125.55. The Nifty 50 index was up 69.8 points or 0.58% at 12,062.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.69% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.9%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1198 shares rose and 613 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 36 stocks advanced while 14 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index jumped 1.8% to 8,345.80, snapping a three-day losing streak. The index fell 1.65% in three sessions.

Wockhardt (up 5.49%), IPCA Laboratories (up 4.39%), Alkem Laboratories (up 2.58%), Biocon (up 1.88%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.33%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.87%), Cipla (up 0.57%), Lupin (up 0.56%) and Cadila Healthcare (up 0.15%) were top gainers in pharmaceutical space.

Aurobindo Pharma surged 14.56% to Rs 573.05 after the company's Hyderabad-based formulations manufacturing facility received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US FDA.

The Index Maintenance Sub-Committee (IMSC) of NSE Indices excluded Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Piramal Enterprises from Nifty Pharma index and included Alkem Laboratories and Torrent Pharmaceuticals. The changes will come into effect from 27 March 2020.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NCC (up 3.38%) and Yes Bank (down 0.86%) are banned from trading in NSE's F&O segment for today after the securities crossed 95% of market wide position limit.

HCL Technologies gained 0.91% after the IT major announced that it will open a Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Hartford, Connecticut to offer digital transformation services to clients in the smart manufacturing, insurance, aerospace, and defense industries. The first anchor client for the GDC will be Stanley Black & Decker, a diversified global industrial that operates the world's largest tool company, which signed a significant global agreement with HCL Technologies.

GE T&D India fell 0.39% after credit rating agency ICRA downgraded the company's long-term rating to A+ from AA-. ICRA said the downgrade is on the back of decline in the company's in revenues, profitability and increase in the working capital cycle were the reasons for the downgrade.

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